Such a girl
by Eliptikus
Summary: Arthur gets hit by the gender-bending spell of a witch and now he's more confused than ever! Set in season 2. Rated for the sexual content in later chapters. MerlinxArthur
1. Prologue

**So I've been reading some gender-bending stories lately and thought about trying to write one myself! So let's see how Arthur manages being a woman! =D (Rated T for the sexual content in later chapters – might change to M, I don't know yet…) **

**Set between 2.02 and 2.04!**

**I don't own Merlin/English is not my first language…**

**Prologue**

Leaves were whirling around in the air of the forest by an unnatural force on a late summer's day. The wind not only carried the leaves, small branches and flowers of the trees, but the croaky voice of a woman, too.

_Hah, Arthur Pendragon, _

_so proud, so ignorant, _

_blinded by title and strength, _

_open your eyes and your heart to see,_

_because your sword will be of no use this time._

_Only knowledge can set you free!_

_Becym frówe!_

Suddenly, everything halted in the air for a moment, and then the forest finally settled.

Sensing this, Merlin lowered his arm from his face and got up from the ground. He looked around, his eyes searching frenetically for Arthur but to no avail. The prince was nowhere in sight.

„Arthur?" – Merlin shouted. He had to be somewhere near, as they had got separated only before the strange gale – most likely created by the witch, Merlin thought – started. Merlin figured Arthur must've done the same thing as him, gulp down and wait for the crazed witch's attack (well, it'd been more of a self-defensive move as it was _them_ who had started to chase the old woman) to stop.

But Arthur was nowhere to be found! Merlin was getting more and more desperate as he was running through the trees, screaming his master's (and friend's) name.

„Arthur!...Arthur!"

„Merlin?" – a weak voice could be heard from somewhere and Merlin quickly spun around.

„…Arthur?" – Merlin asked uncertainly, his mind was telling him that it was Arthur but that voice was so weak, so frightened, so _not _Arthur.

„Yeah…" – answered the voice.

„Arthur, are you okay?" – Merlin was taking slow steps towards where he thought he'd find the prince.

„Yes…no."

Merlin didn't know what to make of the puzzling answer but before he could've investigated further, he heard the clattering of metal. Arthur was probably standing up, Merlin could hear that it took him a great effort to do so and he would've run to help, but he still could not identify the exact location of the prince.

He had prepared himself for all sorts of injuries, serious injuries that needed to be treated by Gaius, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next.

A figure stepped – rather stumbled – from behind a tree, wearing chainmail. But it was a woman. A woman wearing Arthur's chainmail.

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**Yeah, I cut to the chase! =P**

**Interested? **


	2. Chapter 1

**Thanks for everyone who put this story to their favourites/alert list! Special thanks to lordstarlight, Jossy99 and Gabriella Jane London for the reviews! =)**

**I don't own Merlin/English is not my first language…**

**Chapter 1**

Locks were brushing his cheeks. He could actually _feel _long locks of hair – probably his – brushing his cheeks!

How come that evil sorcerers always found_ him_ with their crookedly evil plans?

Arthur was hanging his – her? – head low while musing about his – her! – conveniently unfortunate fate. He was just standing in his solemn mood and staring at the ground. (S)He didn't dare to look up at Merlin, (s)he didn't wish to study her servant's face while he was recovering from shock.

But long moments had passed and Merlin still hadn't said anything, so Arthur lifted her gaze to look at him. And yes, the bumpkin was still gaping like a fish.

„Yes-yes, Merlin. It's me." – Arthur said in an annoyed manner and threw her arms open to give meaning to her words.

„Bu-bu-but…" – Merlin was stammering, he tried to form words but he was busy tilting his head from side to side, trying to decide whether what he saw was real or just some dream. How Arthur whished it'd been only one of his bizarre dreams and he would wake up soon, but it was not so…

Merlin finally found his voice.

„But how?" – he still couldn't believe his eyes.

„The witch, _Mer_lin" – Arthur sent him a deadly glare and grunt his name with her infamous intonation which always made Merlin stir in fear but, instead of manly, it came out rather squeaky this time. Arthur could hear this and it only made her sink deeper into desperation.

„I know it was the witch, Arthur" – he rolled his eyes – „but why did she do…_this_?"

„I don't know" – Arthur gave into her desperation and let her voice hit unimaginable heights. She walked up to Merlin in the _extremely_ heavy chainmail, she felt that in her new body she could hardly walk in it. – „One minute I was chasing her, the next minute that _leaf cyclone_ started and when it finally settled she was gone and I was…a woman."

When she'd finished her speech, Merlin gave a sympathetic sigh, but it didn't console Arthur the least.

„Then let's go back! We can get reinforcement and figure out how to deal with this." – he'd already turned around and was walking back to the horses, but Arthur didn't move a limb.

„What? No!" – Arthur's protest gained Merlin's attention.

„Why? The two of us will never catch her" – he stopped for a moment and then added – „especially when you're in this state."

„I will _not_ show up in court like this!– she stated firmly – „I will be completely humiliated in front of my knights and my father."

Merlin thought for a moment and then turned to Arthur with the expression he always wore when he was about to suggest something lunatic but somehow totally reasonable.

„Then we go back undercover! We'll say that the Prince stayed in the Western Lands to catch the sorceress but" – he held up a finger, _here comes the tricky part, _Arthur thought – „he saved a defenceless Lady during his quest and sent her back with his trustworthy and reliable manservant to Camelot."

Arthur hated to admit it, but it was a good plan. They needed some rest, some food and Arthur had to figure out how the hell to _exists_ in this body until they found the solution. Still, he was not going to give Merlin credit.

„_Trustworthy_ _and reliable_? Please…" – he snorted as he passed Merlin on the way to the horses. But Merlin followed her with a grin plastered to his face because, whether Arthur was willing to admit it or not, he won.

It'd turned out quite soon that Arthur would not make it to Camelot in the full set of armour. Climbing onto the horse had been a challenge itself – even with Merlin's help – but trying to ride it was downright dangerous! So after almost falling to certain death _twice_, Arthur had given in to Merlin and agreed to stop at the next town to fetch some clothes that fit to her new body.

Naturally, since Merlin was the servant, it was his job to solve the _clothing-problem_, while Arthur was waiting outside the inn with the horses.

It'd been nearly dark when they'd reached the town and Merlin had suggested they stayed for the night but Arthur had refused it instantly. She wanted to be back in Camelot as soon as possible, no matter how exhausted they were. She wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway, it was better to get moving.

Arthur got more and more anxious as she was waiting outside for Merlin, he'd been in there for at least twenty minutes now! Honestly, how hard was it to get a shirt and pair of trousers of the proper size? That idiot…

While fuming, she shot nervous glances towards the group of local men standing on the other side of the inn. It was obvious that they already had a few tankards of mead in them and they were eyeing Arthur too visibly for her liking.

Arthur would have gladly barked at them that they'd better quit staring and just mind their own business, but she didn't dare to risk a fight, for they obviously outnumbered her and in her new body it was not likely she could beat them. Heck, Arthur didn't even know if she still had the fighting skills that she'd possessed when she'd been a man.

To Arthur's relief, Merlin finally showed up, he was holding some sort of clothing in his hands.

„What took you so long, _Mer_lin?" – hell, she just couldn't get intimidating with this high-pitched voice!

„I'm sorry, _sire_, but I had a hard time deciding what would suit you best." – sarcasm was oozing from Merlin's words.

Arthur only rolled her eyes and ripped the clothes from his hands and she was shocked to find that it was only one piece.

„Merlin! This is a _dress_!"

„It is, sire." – Merlin was staring at her with confusion.

„I'm not wearing this! Get in there and get some _normal_ clothes!"

Merlin closed his eyes and started with his speech as if he was talking to a three-year-old. Arthur may have been sulking like a small child but she still wanted to punch Merlin for treating her as such.

„Arthur, it was hard enough to get _this_ dress, these people already think that I'm some sort of freak" – he held up a finger, he sensed that Arthur was about to insert that _he was a freak_ – „besides, it would be _slightly_ suspicious if the rescued lady showed up in Prince Arthur's undergarments."

Arthur hated it, but she couldn't argue with Merlin's reasoning. She just stood there with her arms crossed, gripping the dress angrily.

„Fine! And where do you suggest I get changed?" – she said, hoping she could find a hole in Merlin's splendid plan.

„In the stable?" – he pointed behind Arthur, who had no choice but to do as she was told, so she went to try to fit her new body into the dress.

Merlin glanced around to see if anyone was looking and he quickly spotted the not-so-sober men who had been probably watching their whole exchange, it was lucky that they were out of earshot. Merlin was still staring at them when he addressed Arthur, who was already in the stable.

„I'll stand guard."

A panicked expression crossed Arthur's face at this while she was tugging her shirt. She knew that Merlin had said this because of the suspicious group of men. She would have said something like _'you couldn't stop them even if they were twice as drunk and half as big'_ at any other time but now, she could only think about the scary scenario where those drunk bastards decided to pay a visit to the half-dressed Arthur.

The idea frightened the once brave and courageous prince of Camelot beyond words and so she quickened. As she finished – hoping she'd put the dress on correctly in the dark – she gave a long sigh.

_When will this nightmare end?_

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**There you go, the first **_**normal**_** chapter. What do you think, people?**

**Just a couple of things you need to know:**

**- There are 10 chapters all together (+ the prologue).**

**- Arthur will have sexual experience with a man eventually. And yes, with Merlin. BUT! This is not a romantic tale in the literal sense of the word. I don't believe in the great Merthur romance =/…but that didn't stop me from writing a twisted man-on-man lovin' story! =D**

**- Arthur **_**will**_** change back in the end!**

**- And lastly, but most importantly: REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRICIATED! =)**

**Luv ya, bye!**


	3. Chapter 2

**I don't own Merlin/English is not my first language…**

**Chapter 2**

Arthur stepped out from the stable into the light, which was coming from inside the inn (as it was already dark). She looked down and saw that the lavender dress, given by Merlin, fit her new form perfectly.

Although the window of the inn provided only very little and dim light, she could see that it was a simple dress with long sleeves and a V-neck, it wasn't shabby at all but wasn't too fancy, either.

But what caught Arthur's attention was the nice set of boobs the dress was covering. She hadn't had the time – or the wish – to examine her new body before, however, it seemed that she'd be stuck like this for a while and sooner or later she'd have to get familiar with the mysteries of the female body.

Arthur was staring at her newly gained breasts with a strange mixture of horror and wonder. She slowly moved her hands to touch them but was interrupted halfway through by Merlin. He cleared his throat quite loudly.

She snapped her head up and realized that her excitement with her female forms didn't go unnoticed, for Merlin was blushing and avoiding her gaze. Embarrassed by the fact that Merlin probably had been watching her all the while, Arthur started blushing, too and dropped her arms back to her side awkwardly. Fortunately, it seemed that Merlin wasn't going to comment on the issue.

„If you're ready, we can leave." – he passed her on his way to the stable – „I'll fetch the horse." – this made Arthur sober immediately.

„Right. Wait-what? _the horse_?" – she really didn't like where this was going – „you're planning on leaving one of the horses behind?"

Merlin came out holding the reins of his horse, and stopped in front of Arthur. She could see that another lecture was about to come, so she held up her hand – which was positively smaller and had longer fingers than before – to stop him. Arthur understood clearly that she couldn't gallop into the city on Prince Arthur's mare for the same reason she couldn't show up in his chainmail and undergarments, but that didn't mean she was not angry about it!

„Fine! Let's just leave already." – she motioned for Merlin to mount the horse. Watching as he did so, she thought about what a_ long_ and _painful_ ride was ahead of her and she could feel that another of her recent temper tantrums – that, according to Arthur, became common _only_ after she had transformed – was about to break out. But she supressed it and another thought appeared in her mind instead.

„What about my horse? Will she be taken care of?"

„Yes. I made a deal with the inn keeper and I hid your chainmail in the forest." – he was already on the horse when he answered.

„Don't worry, Arthur, she'll be taken care of properly." – he added reassuringly as he saw Arthur glancing towards the stable with concern.

Arthur accepted this and turned to Merlin. Now all was left was to climb next to Merlin and set off to Camelot. But how was she supposed to do that?

Arthur had carried ladies on horse on numerous occasions before. She knew how to pull them up with an easy, swift movement, but now she was clueless as to how to do the other part of the process.

She didn't have to voice her problem because Merlin had already shifted back in the saddle and hold out his right hand to help Arthur up. She lifted her gaze to the black sky and mumbled „God, help me…" and took Merlin's hand with a grimace.

After minutes of awkward struggling and dangling (which only made the drunk bastards laugh more loudly), she was finally in the saddle with her legs hanging down on the left side of the horse. She was still shuffling because it was an extremely uncomfortable position.

„Will you stop moving?" – hissed Merlin in annoyance.

„Yes!" – she turned to him angrily (and tossed her hair in his face in the process) – „when you finally give me some room!" – and with that Arthur started pushing with her elbows and arms forcefully, ignoring Merlin's protests.

However, she stopped immediately when she heard Merlin give a loud yelp. She looked up – great! now she was _much_ shorter than her manservant – into his face and saw that his eyes were crossed in pain. She soon realized what had caused his alarm; Arthur successfully hit him in what she had lost only hours before, she hit him in the crotch.

Although she no longer had male reproductive parts, she knew exactly how sensitive that area was and she hadn't had the slightest intention of hitting Merlin _there_. Arthur quickly pulled her hand in front of her mouth and mumbled an honest _sorry_.

„It's nothing…let's just…get going." – he said breathlessly with his eyes shut.

Arthur only nodded and put her left arm around Merlin's neck to secure herself. Merlin started trotting towards the rout they were planning to take, but Arthur stopped him.

„Wait! That way." – she pointed to the other side of the building, where the group of men were standing – or rather wobbling. Merlin was confused but did as he was told anyway.

As they were getting closer to the group, Arthur leaned forward and prepared herself. When they reached them, without any warning she punched the man standing at the side, so hard that he fell into the mud.

„Oi!" – the others shouted after them, some even started running but they had no chance against one of Camelot's finest horses.

„That's for staring too much, you oaf!" – Arthur yelled back and Merlin chuckled. She gave him a proud grin and they were finally on the way to Camelot.

Arthur had insisted that they kept on going without ever stopping, even if it was highly dangerous to travel at night not only because of the fact that there was no light, but because of the bandits who gladly attacked those fools who decided to cross these lands.

The lack of light was not a problem this time, as the moon was up high, sending silver rays of light, just enough to see the road. But the prospect of bumping into a camp of bandits was likely and that concerned Merlin.

„What do we do if we get attacked by bandits? We don't stand a chance against them…" – he said to Arthur.

She thought for a moment and then answered in a blank tone while she kept her gaze on the road.

„Then people will know that you died bravely defending the honour of a _defenceless lady_." – after a short pause, she added – „And I'll be remembered as the courageous prince who died on his quest against magic."

Although she wasn't looking at him, Arthur would've bet that Merlin rolled his blue orbs, but he didn't said anything, and that didn't bother Arthur at all, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts.

For a moment, she honestly wished that the sorceress had just killed her instead of playing such nasty trick on her. That way, he would've been able to rest in peace and could've died a sublime death and kept his reputation…

Well, his death wouldn't have been _so_ heroic that way either. Because the old woman's only sin was that she was healing the members of her community with magic. She was so helpful with her magic that word had started to spread and in the end, it'd reached his father's ear as well. And with that Arthur and Merlin had been sent to _dispose_ of the old enchantress.

Officially, their task had been to arrest the woman and bring her in front of the king for trial – which meant certain death in her case. And she had known that, too, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to Arthur that she hadn't been willing to go freely…but who would have thought that she was _that_ powerful and would do _this_!

Even if Arthur had had any sympathy for the old woman – which he hadn't because magic was ultimately _evil_ – all traces of it were gone by now!

She wanted to escape from her thoughts but there was nothing else she could do.

They didn't speak much, none of them were in the mood for their usual banter. Arthur figured that Merlin didn't dare to say any cheeky remarks regarding Arthur's current state because he was afraid she might push him off the horse. And he was right, Arthur wasn't ready to laugh at the issue yet. Maybe twenty years from now (back in his normal self), he would be able to smile at the experience but not now.

Since it was dark, she was very tired and leaning against Merlin's strangely comfortable chest, she slowly fell asleep. She only woke up at dawn, when Merlin said something to her (based on his tone, he was probably not aware that Arthur had been sleeping).

„How will we convince the king that I'm telling the truth? That I didn't just lose you on the way? He thinks I'm an idiot!" – he said in panic.

Arthur rubbed her eyes and tried to answer in the clearest voice she could manage.

„I have a plan. Don't worry…" – she could hear that she'd failed miserably.

„Were you sleeping?" – apparently, Merlin could hear it, too.

„…no. And you _are_ an idiot, _Mer_lin."

„Prat." – he retorted. But it only earned him a smack in the stomach.

„Hey! Careful or we both die!" – he warned Arthur but she could see that he was smiling.

Within two hours, they reached the gates of the castle and only after twenty minutes they were already standing in front of the doors of the Great Hall, waiting for the audition with the king. Both of them were shifting on their feet nervously, silently going through the story they would present to the court.

In the next minute, the doors flew open and they were walking along the crowd towards Uther. Everyone was staring at them – especially at Arthur – with curious and shocked expressions.

Arthur saw Gaius, Gwen, Morgana, Uther and his knights and she could see that they were forming the same questions in their heads; _Where is Prince Arthur? And who is that shy girl shuffling behind his manservant?_

It was the king who voiced the question.

„Where is the Prince, boy?" – he addressed Merlin in a slightly accusing manner. But Merlin only bowed and went on with the plan.

„I was sent to deliver a letter explaining just that, my lord." – and with that, he pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it and read it out in front of the whole court.

_Sire, _

_I successfully tracked down the sorceress that the reports spoke about. However, I'm afraid the situation is more serious than we thought. Thus I was forced to lengthen my staying to restore order. _

_I sent my servant forward to deliver this message and also to escort Lady Lora to Camelot. She was a victim of an ambush, which left her without any possession and her parents _– this was the part where Arthur had to look real frightened, which wasn't a hard task as he had the constant fear that someone from the crowd would yell_ 'that's not a lady! it's Prince Arthur in a dress!'_ – _I send her to Camelot in hopes that you will show kindness towards her and I trust Merlin will serve her well in my absence._

_I will keep you informed of any developments._

_Arthur Pendragon_

The king was listening to the _report_ with his chin in his hand and an unreadable expression. He held out his hand for the letter and examined it closely.

Arthur was a bit nervous but she knew that even if her father had suspicions, all his doubts would be settled, because as it'd turned out, Arthur's handwriting hadn't changed and the letter was signed with her own signet ring.

She was right.

„I see." – sighed Uther and lifted his gaze at Arthur – „You are obviously most welcome in Camelot, Lady Lora." – he said in his usual kingly manner.

Arthur bowed her head and _tried _to curtsy but she doubted she'd succeeded. Whatever…

„Thank you, my lord."

Uther then turned to his right to Morgana and asked her to make sure that their new guest had a comfortable chamber in the East wing and a proper maid.

Arthur got alarmed, she didn't have the wish to have a serving girl following her every step and forcing her to play the role of the lady guest. That's exactly why they had implanted Arthur's wish of Merlin serving Lady Lora in the letter!

„Bu-but I thought Merlin will be my servant during my stay, my lord." – She said, interrupting the king and Morgana's conversation, and now they were looking at her with baffled expressions.

„Yes, but surly you cannot require a _manservant_ to tend to your nightly duties." – The king said with his eyes slightly widened.

Arthur could feel that everyone in the hall was staring at her, and if the expression of her father was anything to go by, they all thought that she was from a _very strange_ household with _very strange_ customs.

„No, of course not." – she said with some embarrassment.

„Good. I'm sure your chamber will be ready before lunch and your maid will be sent to you after dinner, if that's alright with you." – he bowed his head a bit which meant that Arthur and Merlin were dismissed.

„That is very kind of you, my lord." – as Arthur finished her sentence, Merlin bowed and she curtsied once again – hah! and this time she did it quite well!

Uther was no longer concerned with them, but as they turned around to leave, Arthur could see that Morgana and Gwen were smiling at her encouragingly, while Gaius was just standing there with a raised eyebrow – he was suspecting something…

When they finally escaped from the eyeing crowd, both of them gave a huge sigh of relief, but they didn't speak a word until they were out of earshot of the guards.

As they were walking down the corridor to _somewhere_ – Arthur had no idea where she was going, her legs were just carrying her away from there – Merlin leaned closer.

„How did you come up with this name?" – he asked with genuine curiosity.

„Huh?" – Arthur was already pondering her options of how she could start to chase the damned sorceress again.

„Your name, _Lora. _How did you come up with it?"

„Uhm" – Arthur stopped and cast her eyes down to the ground – „when I was a child, I had a puppy dog…her name was Lora." – she admitted. Arthur really loved that dog.

„Oh…" – Merlin's eyes widened while a stupid grin was forming on his face. And now _he _looked like a puppy dog.

„_Mer_lin, please…" – Arthur only rolled her eyes and started off again.

„Alight-alright. Then let's go to Gaius. The sooner we start to search for the solution, the better." – he said as he started jogging after Arthur.

„Woah!" – Arthur frowned – „I told you that I wouldn't involve anyone else in this."

„What? Not even Gaius? Arthur, if anyone can help, it's him." – Merlin exclaimed.

Arthur was chewing on her thoughts for a few moments. The only reason she didn't want to tell anyone about her misfortune was because she was afraid of humiliation. But she knew that Gaius would never make fun of her – and not only because she was the son, or _daughter_, of the king. Plus, Gaius was probably the only one in the kingdom who knew about the wicked ways of sorcerers.

„Fine." – she breathed in a gentle, feminine voice.

But it seemed that Merlin hadn't heard her, for he was still rambling about how loyal, devoted Gaius was and that he'd already sacrificed so much for the kingdom and Arthur could at least trust him a little…

„I SAID FINE, _MER_LIN!" – she shouted this time in a voice which resembled a lot more to her old one.

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**So what do you think? =)**

**Review, please?**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks for everyone who wrote after my A/N! It means a lot and I'll keep updating! =)**

**Some people assumed I had doubts because it was **_**me **_**who didn't like the story and that I didn't want to keep writing it! Well, it's not true! I LOVE it! =D I'm so excited for Merlin's and Arthur's little affair. I just wasn't sure if **_**you**_** liked it! But based on the reviews it seems you do, so I'm gonna post all the chapters.**

**I'm confident about finishing the story because I have all the chapters outlined and I know exactly what I want to do with Merlin and Arthur (if the updating gets slower, it's only because I have exams in June…but I tend to choose writing instead of studying! =P)**

**OK, enough of my rambling…**

**I don't own Merlin/English is not my first language…**

**Chapter 3**

Gaius' reaction was better than Merlin's.

But he was still shocked. At first, he'd thought that Merlin was playing some kind of joke on him – Arthur wondered what a strange sense of humour Merlin must've had if his mentor had the idea that this was only one of his ward's jokes – but after asking _Lady Lora_ all sorts of questions about Prince Arthur's childhood, he was finally convinced about her true identity.

After that, Gaius was looking at her with total amusement, he was studying her with the curiosity of a scientist– he had even wanted to examine Arthur's body more closely to see _„if the transformation was, indeed, complete"_! Arthur, after recoveringfrom her momentary shock, had refused the suggestion in an instant (fortunately, Merlin had been just as outraged by the idea as her, so he'd sided with his master).

They finally came to discussing the possible solutions for Arthur's problem, but it wasn't fruitful at all, as Gaius had never even heard of a curse like this.

„I'm sorry sire, but I have never seen a case similar to yours." – he said from behind his desk.

Arthur was pacing in the physician's chamber in her uncomfortable dress, grabbing her long her furiously.

„No, Gaius. There has to be something!" – she shrieked.

„I'll start to search through the books immediately, sire. If they ever recorded something like this, I'm sure it will be here…somewhere." – he glanced around.

„If they didn't?" – Merlin asked silently from the steps of the stairs where he was sitting. This was the first time he said something.

Arthur turned to Gaius, waiting for him to say something reassuring, but he remained silent. This only made Arthur more desperate. Then something popped into her head, something that would definitely work, she was sure.

„I'll go after her." – she stated with determination in her voice.

„What?" – asked Merlin incredulously and stood up.

„I'll go after her, hunt her down and then force her to reverse the curse!"

„Arthur, I don't think that's a good idea…" – said Gaius with a hint of parental worry in his voice. But Arthur took none of it, she was too furious.

„And what should I do Gaius? Just sit and hope that the witch will be kind enough to undo the spell?" – she snapped with anger, but it was not at all directed at Gaius, she could only hope he knew this – „you can't expect me to do that." – she said in a more pleading tone as she leaned over to him with her hands on the table.

„Arthur, it's dangerous!" – Merlin was now standing right beside Arthur and tried to convince her – „please, just let Gaius search!"

Arthur didn't say anything, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and was just staring up at the pleading Merlin hopelessly. Apart from her emotional outburst – for which she blamed the huge amount of female hormones in her body – she could see sense in their words. But they had no idea how horrible it was to be stuck in the body of a weak woman.

Merlin must've thought she remained silent out of stubbornness because he continued his persuasion.

„We don't even know where she is! Besides, it would cause suspicion if you, _Lady Lora_ left the castle all of a sudden with a horse and a sword."

He stepped in front of Arthur and touched her shoulder briefly but reassuringly, waiting for her answer.

It was so strange to _look up_ at Merlin, he'd always been taller than Arthur (and it had highly irritated Arthur in the first few month of his service) but Merlin always made sure to hide their little height difference – at least when they were in public. Whereas now she was staring at his ridiculous neckerchief and couldn't be taller, even if she'd been standing on her toes!

But this gave her the opportunity to closely observe Merlin's Adam's apple and jawline from a new angle. And somehow she found his features rather masculine…

These thoughts scared Arthur and she told herself that she only showed interest in them because they reminded her of her one-time manly face.

Anyhow, Arthur snapped back to reality and turned to Gaius.

„And what should we be doing while you're going through thousands of books?" – she asked more calmly.

Even though she was looking at Gaius, she could see that Merlin had his stupid grin on his face, clearly satisfied that he'd won the argument. Arthur considered smacking him on the head but Gaius interrupted.

„Just play your role!" – he said with a shrug.

That was the answer Arthur had been afraid of.

She only huffed and murmured a few incoherent things to the ceiling and made the decision to leave and _finally_ rest.

„Gaius." – she said as a goodbye to the physician and then turned to leave.

„See you tomorrow, Merlin." – she said in an indifferent voice, without looking at him and then she disappeared in the corridor.

After their brief discussion, Arthur had spent the rest of the afternoon in her new chamber.

It was one of the many guestrooms that the castle had. It wasn't either big or small but Arthur just hated it – probably because it represented everything she'd lost in the incident with the witch.

First of all, it lacked that deep scarlet colour which was Arthur's favourite. It symbolized Camelot and the royal family, therefore the Crown Prince's chamber was filled with that shade of colour. Now Arthur was a nobody, just one of the guests of Camelot in an average guest room. No one knew who she really was.

Secondly, _everything_ was cream-coloured! The drapes, the baldachin on the bed, the pillows had this light colour – it made the chamber look very similar to Morgana's, except that hers was bigger and filled with her belongings. This room was basically empty, except for the _bloody_ flowers! The room was full of them! Arthur could count eight vases of flowers – did women like them that much?

_Well, they do make the room more cosy_… - as Arthur realized what she'd just mentally noted, she gave a grunt and slumped onto the edge of the bed.

She buried her face into her soft hands. She felt that she was dangerously close to crying but she decided that she would not let those tears fall.

Arthur had sunk so deep into self-pity that she failed to notice the figure standing in the door and looking at her with sad eyes.

„Is everything alright, my lady?" – asked a soft voice, a voice which Arthur knew! She quickly snapped her head up and saw her lovely Gwen.

Arthur didn't answer, she was just staring at the girl from whom she'd stolen a kiss a month before.

The maid's eyes were filled with worry and when she saw Arthur's melancholy, she put down the fresh sheets she was holding and hurried next to Arthur.

„What's bothering you?" – she asked in an even softer voice and put one of her arms around Arthur's shoulders. It felt strange that such a small girl like Gwen could actually embrace the once strapping prince of Camelot, on the other hand her caring felt so good and comforting.

„Nothing…It's just that I'm exhausted." – Arthur looked up into her eyes and forced a smile but even she could tell that her answer was not very convincing.

Gwen was looking at her with empathy but after a few moments of staring into _Lady Lora's_ eyes, something else also reflected in the maid's gaze; realization – or at least something very similar to that. So Arthur quickly cast her eyes down yet again. The last thing she wanted was Gwen recognize her!

„You miss your family?" – Gwen whispered into her ears.

Arthur was utterly clueless as to why she was supposed to _miss her family_ for a moment but then it clicked that she was _Lady Lora who had been attacked by brutes in the woods and now was taking refuge in Camelot._

Arthur nodded slowly, hoping that Gwen had missed her momentary confusion. It seemed she did because she gently pulled Arthur into a hug.

Arthur's eyes widened in surprise. This was the closest she'd ever been to Gwen, she could feel the warmth of her body and could smell her hair. But it didn't have the expected effect on Arthur…

Gwen was holding her firmly and all Arthur could muse about was how she _didn't_ feel anything – or at least nothing that a man felt when the woman he loved hugged him. Well, that was sort of logical as Arthur was not a _man_, not in body anyway.

_Body_ was the key word. Arthur still loved Gwen – she assumed – her presence still made Arthur happy, her closeness still brightened Arthur's mood (like now) but Arthur no longer felt physical attraction toward Morgana's maid. She was like a friend – a _dear_ friend – to Arthur.

Did this mean that Arthur was now attracted to men? She hoped not!

Arthur silently started to panic, the idea that a man could arouse her new body scared her. She looked down and saw that Gwen's neck was exposed to her and for a moment she seriously pondered to kiss her soft skin just to test her theory.

But Gwen probably wouldn't be happy about it. So Arthur was just resting in Gwen's comforting but asexual embrace.

It was Gwen who pulled away first after squeezing Arthur one last time. She slowly stood up, patted her lavender dress and addressed Arthur in a more formal manner.

„I came to inform you, my lady that your new servant will be here soon to prepare your bath. She's a lovely girl, she won't disappoint you." – she said.

„I'm sure she won't."

Arthur thought this was the end of their conversation but Gwen didn't leave, she shifted on her feet nervously. Arthur could tell that there was something on her mind and decided to help her.

„Is there anything else you want to say? – she said to encourage her.

„Actually there is, the Lady Morgana would like to know if you'd honour her with your company tomorrow." – Gwen had a broad smile on her face, obviously the invitation was supposed to cheer the grieving Lady Lora up a bit.

This got Arthur off guard, she had always liked to be with Morgana, they practically had grown up together, but they usually spent the time with bickering, not befriending – which was Morgana's intention now, Arthur was sure of that.

However, Arthur couldn't think of a reason why she should refuse, it's not like she had any princely duties to attend to. She was supposed to do what the ladies of the court did; _nothing_. It would be boring to that alone.

„Of course, gladly." – she said with excitement.

Gwen smiled at her in response, did a curtsy, then left Arthur alone.

And just like Gwen had said, soon Arthur's appointed maid was at her chamber's door. It was either her or Merlin – but the person was knocking and Merlin _never_ knocked, he just dashed into the room whenever he felt like it.

„Come in." – Arthur said. When she heard her own sing-song voice, Arthur pulled a face. Honestly, her new voice was even higher than Morgana's!

A small girl slipped into the room, she was around sixteen which meant that she'd been a servant in the castle for only a few months. She had brown eyes that were radiating warmth and light brown hair which was arranged into a loose bun.

„Mary, my lady, at your service." – she bowed her head and did a curtsy in her simple, red dress.

Arthur could tell that she was nervous, even more nervous than Arthur herself. _ Great!_ She mentally rolled her eyes, they were such a mismatch for each other – the serving girl, who had no idea how to serve a lady and Arthur, who had no idea how to _be_ a lady in general…

„May I prepare your bath, my lady?" – her soft voice interrupted Arthur's musing.

„Uhm, yes." – she nodded. Arthur was so not used to having such formal conversations in her chambers, not since Merlin had come along.

Arthur got through with bathing as fast as she could. She tried not to look while washing herself, so she set her eyes on a spot on the ceiling and kept her gaze there all along. Mary might have found this rather strange but Arthur couldn't care less. She knew that this was the last challenge she had to face on this extremely long and tiring day and after that she could be in bed and have some sleep – and _maybe_ she would wake up a man the next morning…

When Arthur had finished the quickest bath of her life, she stood up triumphantly; she'd successfully overcome the obstacles set by that darn witch and she'd done that with only a few _occasional _temper tantrums, which – in Arthur's opinion – were totally acceptable in a situation where you lost your manhood all of a sudden and without any warning.

Arthur was standing there, dried, waiting for Mary to dress her into _something_ – most likely a nightgown. If it was the case, Arthur decided that the moment Mary left, she would take it off for the night and would sleep without clothing instead – no one in the world would force her to wear a dress in her sleep! But it probably wasn't a smart idea, for who knew how Mary would react when she found Lady Lora naked in bed, so Arthur had to accept the fact that she would be sleeping in a fussy and uncomfortable dress…

While Arthur was preoccupied with her thoughts, Mary appeared in sight but instead of bringing any form of clothing, she was holding a pot which was filled with some sort of cream or balm.

Arthur was watching the approaching girl warily. What was she doing with that? Was it for Arthur? And most importantly; what was Arthur supposed to do with it?

Mary placed the pot on a drawer near Arthur, put some of its content on her hands and started toward Arthur but halted in her tracks when she saw Arthur's confused and frightened expression.

„Don't you wish me to rub lotion on your skin before bed, my lady?" – she asked uncertainly. She feared that she'd done something wrong.

„No-no. I'd like that." – she reassured the girl. Arthur felt guilty for making Mary so confused, she probably thought that she was failing at serving as a maid while it was Arthur who was totally incompetent at behaving like a lady.

Guilt was quickly replaced by sheer shock as Mary stepped behind Arthur and started gently massaging the lotion into her skin. Arthur couldn't believe this was happening, Mary was slowly making her way downwards and never missed any part of Arthur's body – not even her buttocks!

No wonder everyone had been staring at her with wide eyes earlier in the Great Hall, it would've been _very _inappropriate for Merlin to do what Mary was doing at the moment.

As the young girl was massaging her calves, Arthur took some balm on her hand out of curiosity and boredom. She observed the substance on her fingers closely, she lifted her hand to her nose and figured that it smelled quite nice! It's odour was like a mixture of honey and…_some kind of flower_.

Arthur started to rub the balm onto her shoulder and her arm. She had to admit that it felt good, her skin was so soft, so touchable.

She eagerly reached for the pot to have some more but from the corner of the eye, she noticed a figure standing only a few feet away from her. She snapped her eyes up to have a look at the peeping perv before she gave a punch between the eyes.

But when Arthur realized who she'd seen, her eyes rounded in surprise and shock.

She was staring at her own reflection in a long mirror that was placed next to the changing screen, slightly to the right. Arthur wouldn't have believed that the woman looking back at her was, indeed, herself if it wasn't for Mary, since her figure also reflected in the mirror – it was unlikely that Mary's twin happened to be massaging another lady in the very same room…

It was so _bizarre_. She had long blond wavy locks which framed her young face, Arthur had always looked older than his age but now, with her soft cheeks and big eyes, she actually looked younger – like a nineteen-year-old girl. As far as she could tell in the candle light, the colour of her eyes had stayed the same and her lips were just like before, only a bit more feminine.

Her body structure had also changed drastically (though she'd noticed that already…).

Still gazing into the mirror, Arthur slowly lifted her hands and touched her flat stomach, even though her movements suggested that she was just rubbing the lotion, Arthur's true intention was to discover her new body – sooner or later it had to happen, she knew it'd been foolish to think she would be able to avoid it.

The next thing that caught her attention was her breasts – well, she'd noticed them already as they were the most eye-catching part of the transformation, but this was Arthur's first opportunity to have a _proper_ look at them. They weren't small or big, but fit perfectly to her new body. She slid her hands up carefully and cupped them – to her surprise, the touch didn't evoke any_ special_ feelings in her.

_Strange._ Arthur's belief – that women must've been aroused _all the time_ since they were in the possession of such wonderful things – had been proven wrong.

She examined her neck and shoulders next. She slid her fingers smoothly over her neck where his Adam's apple had been once, then skimmed down to her pronounced collarbones and finally her shoulder blades – they were so thin now.

On the other hand, her hips were a lot more curvy and round, making her body resemble to an hourglass.

Arthur took a few steps towards the mirror (Mary had already finished the massage and had gone to fetch Arthur's nightgown), she drew a sharp breath and took in the sight from head to the toe once again. True, her body was beautiful and _maybe _if Arthur had been a remarkably unattractive lad as a prince, she would've considered this turn of events as a blessing.

But he'd been one of the most dashing bachelors in the five kingdoms and he'd liked it that way!

„May I dress you, my lady?" – asked Mary politely.

Arthur tore her gaze away from the mirror and looked at the girl. She was holding a flimsy dress and what do you know; it was _cream-coloured –_ though it was probably better this way, Arthur would feel completely out of place in the room if she was to wear any other colour.

After Mary had dressed her, Arthur thanked her services and dismissed the girl with a smile, hoping that tomorrow morning wouldn't be as awkward as the evening had been…

Arthur dragged herself to the bed slowly and threw herself on it, only to find out that laying on front was _extremely_ uncomfortable in this body.

„Urgh!" – she gave a grunt and rolled over to her back.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**I know-I know, it was a boring chapter…but it's kind of a filler chapter and had to be done (I hated writing it, though!).**

**The next one is a lot better I promise, that has more Merlin in it! =P**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey Guys! Sorry for the long wait, the end of the semester was a mess _...  
**

**Anyway, things will be a lot quicker from now on. If it's any consolation, this chapter is longer and...it's beated! YAY!  
**

**So thanks a lot to my beta reader, Hoglee!  
**

**Chapter 4**

Arthur was woken by noises. The usual noises of the castle waking from its slumbers…

But instead of the loud clattering and the annoying whistling that always accompanied Merlin, she could only hear the sounds of soft movements of someone who appeared to be very unobtrusive, not loud like her idiot manservant.

She opened her eyes to confirm her suspicions. Yes, it was Mary, her temporary – hopefully!– maid, setting up the table for breakfast and cleaning her chamber (not that it needed much cleaning, Arthur had hardly been in this room for a day; but she could already see that Mary was an unusually conscientious servant).

Arthur closed her eyes and took a deep breath; _the nightmare continues_, she thought. However she snapped her eyes open, gathered all the strength she believed the princess of Camelot should possess, and got up from bed to face the day.

In Arthur's opinion, nothing was more refreshing than using Merlin as a moving target and throwing random items at him in the morning, but now that option was out. For it was highly inappropriate for the guest to harass their servant and Arthur would have never thrown _anything _(let alone heavy goblets likely to injure her) at poor Mary.

So she just greeted her with a smile then sat down to eat, and, to Arthur's surprise, she was finished with it quite quickly. It seemed her new body required a lot less food.

After breakfast, she let Mary dress her – at least _this _was something that didn't differ from her usual routine. Well, apart from the fact that the process lasted a lot longer. These bloody dresses had so many laces on the back!

When Arthur was finally ready, Mary stepped back to allow Arthur to admire her look in the mirror.

It took Arthur a few long minutes to realize this. But Mary's intent gazing made it obvious to Arthur that the girl was waiting for her opinion. So she turned a couple of times and observed her new reflection in the mirror.

Mary had picked a breezy dress for her which had several shades of blue, but all together it had a light colour. The dress exposed a fair amount of her skin – her arms, her shoulders and her neck – but it couldn't be considered indecent.

Arthur had to admit that it pleased the eye.

„This is…very pretty, Mary. Thank you." she turned to the girl and spoke somewhat uncertainly. Arthur was not used to thanking the servants for picking lovely clothing for the day. In fact he was not used to thanking Merlin for much at all. He was beginning to feel a little (a very little) bit guilty.

Mary let out a sigh which Arthur hadn't known she'd been holding in and lowered her fingers from her mouth – was she so nervous about Arthur's judgement that she'd started biting her nails? Apparently, yes.

„Oh, I'm so glad you like it, my lady!" she jumped beside Arthur and looked at her in the mirror, grinning madly „I wanted to pick something that matched your blue eyes!"

„Well, you succeeded!" Arthur replied and couldn't help but give a small smile to her while gazing into the mirror.

But Arthur's good mood was short-lived. The moment she stepped out the door, reality – that she had to roam the corridors of the castle as a woman – hit her and she started fuming again. The thought that she could do this in a beautiful dress, unfortunately, didn't soothe her rage at all.

As she was walking down a long passage, she noticed her gangly servant coming in her direction. He didn't notice her, as he was busy staring with his head sideways at something – _probably a little bird_.

Arthur rolled her eyes and stopped.

„_Mer_lin…" she called out to him with a sigh when he was only few feet away.

This got his attention and snapped his head forward. He stopped in his tracks for a moment and a flicker of sheer amusement and surprise crossed his face, but then he was back into his usual cheeky mood. He flung his arms behind his back and bowed in a way that was more mocking than respectful – typical Merlin…

„Well, Arthur, don't you look pretty." stated Merlin.

Arthur blushed at the compliment – or the mocking, it was hard to decide if Merlin's comment was genuine or not – she hoped for heaven's sake that he hadn't noticed her embarrassment!

„Don't be stupid, _Mer_lin!" she snorted as she passed him.

Merlin hurried after Arthur and was walking next to her in a moment.

„Did you sleep well, sire-I mean _my lady_?" he asked, probably to start a conversation.

Arthur knew very well that Merlin was not capable of shutting up and he'd always thought it to be his most irritating feature. However, this time she was actually glad he'd asked this question because she so wanted to tell someone about how horrible it was to be stuck in a completely strange body. The idea of talking to someone about her feelings was never more tempting, appealing.

„No!" she stopped and she broke down „It was horrible!"

Merlin was a bit taken aback by Arthur's sudden outburst but she continued anyway.

„This body…It's-it's…" she made a gesture with her hands but couldn't finish the sentence for she could feel all the anger and despair welling up within her _again_.

Eventually, she found the proper words to express herself and she leaned close to Merlin – who looked positively terrified – and pushed her index finger up to his face.

„I HATE IT!" she shouted, so loud that it made Merlin jump. However, now that it was off her chest, she started walking again and continued her speech more calmly (but this time rather more to herself than to her servant…)

„I mean, this body is so confusing…the things it does just…" she was suddenly stopped by a firm grip on her arm. She whirled around and saw that it was Merlin who trapped her. She was just about to ask him what on earth he thought he was doing when she saw his urgent if a little amused expression.

„Is it your time of the month?" he asked in a lowered and somewhat worried voice.

Arthur stared at him with a blank expression. What the bloody hell was Merlin talking about?...

„Because Gaius has a potion to ease it. I know that it works because I have to deliver it to the courtiers frequently and I can ask Gaius to make one for you if you need it." he explained.

As Merlin was rambling, vague memories of his anatomy-studies flooded back to Arthur. At the age of fifteen his father had insisted that he took lessons from Gaius where he would learn about the human body. He'd had to visit Gaius' chamber only four or five times but they'd made him so uncomfortable that he'd pushed the memories of those lessons into the back of his mind. And now it was obvious why!

„What? No!" she glared at Merlin „You're a _complete _idiot!"

Arthur quickly set off again. She really didn't have the wish to hear more terrifying stories about the female body that she was now trapped in, especially not from Merlin. Thanks to him, now she had to worry about this inconvenience, too – as if the experience of peeing hadn't been shocking enough.

„Well let's hope you change back _before _it's due because if you're this grumpy now, I dread to think how cranky you'll be then…" murmured Merlin from behind, just loud enough for Arthur to hear it.

She suddenly spun around and punched Merlin in the arm as forcefully as she could.

„Ow!" Merlin yelped. He either hadn't expected that Arthur would hit him or that Arthur would be able to hit him _that hard _as a woman. It was probably the latter…

Arthur stepped as close to Merlin as she could and was just about to threaten him that she'd cut his tongue out if he kept on with his comments when they both noticed that a young serving girl was standing at the end of the corridor with a quizzical look on her face.

They froze in place. It was Arthur who snapped out of it first and tried to save the situation.

She tilted her head in girlie manner, put on a sweet smile and started patting the spot where she'd hit Merlin.

„There was a fly there…" she lied lightly and smiled up at Merlin who gave her an answering sneering smile.

But it worked, the girl went on to do whatever she was originally supposed to do.

Arthur gave a sigh of relief and changed the topic.

„Has Gaius found anything?" she asked, all traces of her previous anger gone. She really hoped Merlin had good news for her. Apparently, she was wrong because Merlin slumped his shoulders and sighed.

„Not yet" he held up his hands to prevent another rant from Arthur „but he will."

Arthur didn't comment on Merlin's blind faith in Gaius and his books, she just rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers – it'd always helped ease the tension, man or not.

She would have gladly march off to the corner to sulk a bit but she knew very well she didn't have the time to do that (plus it wouldn't help anyone…).

„I have to go to Morgana." she said in a defeated tone and with that, she left to _honour his majesty's ward with her company_.

~.~

When Arthur stepped into Morgana's chambers, she was greeted with huge smiles. Morgana and Gwen welcomed her warmly and it felt good. Even though they had no idea about Lady Lora's true identity, Arthur was glad that she could be in the company of those who had been a part of her _old _life – Arthur hoped she would be able to return to that life very soon!

After getting through all the formalities of introduction, Morgana offered to show Arthur around Camelot. Arthur – being the proper guest – kindly accepted the offer but couldn't believe that after the trials of the last two days, she would die of _boredom _in the end.

After all, there was no one who knew Camelot better than Arthur, she highly doubted that Morgana could show her anything new.

So it was a surprise that instead of suffering through a very long and unexciting day, she enjoyed the trip around the castle and the lower town with Morgana and Gwen.

It turned out that Morgana was good company, she was cheerful and her witty remarks made Arthur laugh a lot.

She had to be careful, though. She had to remind herself from time to time that she couldn't act like the Arthur Morgana and Gwen knew, for they might recognize her: it was bad enough that Morgana kept repeating that they must have met in a previous life because they get on so well and _Lora _just seemed so familiar, and Arthur had also caught Gwen eyeing her a couple of times…

But apart from the fact that Arthur had to keep up the Lady Lora facade and had to look truly interested when listening to Morgana's little speech about each and every statue in the castle (that had been a hard task – who would have thought that Morgana had so much knowledge about the history of Camelot- he certainly hadn't), the day was a success.

They returned to Morgana's chambers only in the afternoon.

Morgana and Arthur were standing next to the window, each with a cup filled with wine, chit-chatting while Gwen was changing sheets, folding dresses etc. but she occasionally joined the conversation, too – mostly the laughing part, her mistress had lots of amusing stories!

Arthur was just recovering from her last fit of undignified girlie giggles when she spotted the knights – _her knights _– training on the field outside.

She frowned and watched as the men, as Merlin would say, were beating up each other with spears and swords. Her previous joy vanished and was replaced by bitterness, the last time Arthur could train with the knights seemed so long ago and hell was she missing it.

Her gaze was focused on Sir Gareth who was attacking another knight (whom Arthur wouldn't be able to name even if her life depended on it) with a spear. Gareth kept thrusting with his weapon but failed to reach his target and the more of his blows got blocked, the more desperate his strikes became, which – as Arthur's foresight and experience with the impulsive knight could tell – only resulted in Gareth losing the fight. His spear was knocked out from his hands and after that, _What's-his-name _easily pinned him to the ground with his shield.

She shook her head mentally. That was the problem with Sir Gareth, despite his great fighting skills, he tended to act rashly, without thinking about the grave consequences it may cause. If Arthur hadn't lectured him on that at least a thousand times, he hadn't once…

Arthur didn't have the chance to analyse the knights' movements furthermore, as Morgana asked a question.

„-Don't you think?" she was looking at Arthur and waiting patiently for her answer. But Arthur completely blanked out – maybe she should've paid attention to what she said. _Oops_.

Arthur was just about to say 'yes' to settle whatever it was that Morgana was talking about but the king's ward got there first.

„Ahh, I see you've spotted the mighty knights of Camelot…" she said with a smirk and took another sip from her cup.

Morgana was eyeing her with a meaningful look and Arthur was horrified to realize that she had probably (almost certainly) got to the wrong conclusion.

„Uhm, yeah." was all she could say, internally cursing herself for the stumbling answer that would only confirm Morgana's suspicions.

Arthur's original plan was to close this conversation as soon as possible but then she got a better idea.

„They seem well trained." she remarked lightly. Arthur realized that this was the perfect opportunity to find out what people really thought of the crown prince – it seemed there was an advantage to this being-a-woman thing after all.

„Well, yes. Since they are training day and night!" snorted Morgana „I wonder why they don't take a moment peace now that their tormentor is out of town."

Maybe Arthur would've been affected by her harsh words if she hadn't known that Morgana was speaking only out of jealousy. When they'd been younger, they'd used to train together but as the years had passed – and Morgana had grown to a lady – the king had been less and less content for his ward to swing swords around with his knights, and now, much to her dismay, Morgana was absolutely forbidden to even approach the training field. Arthur at the time had been a little thankful, even whilst pitying her. Morgana had just been a little too close a match for her liking.

But what gave her the ridiculous idea that Arthur was a tormentor on the sessions? It must have been Merlin with his never-ending complaining. _That wimp!  
_  
„Not a fan of him then?" asked Arthur, she tried to keep her voice as even as possible.

„He's too big-headed for his own good." she answered with a laugh. Arthur's eyebrow twitched in surprise, she was more hurt by these words than she'd thought she would be.  
Was this Morgana's honest opinion of Arthur? Drat, she was becoming so sensitive in this body!

Just then, Gwen, who had heard the whole conversation, passed by the two of them with some folded clothes in her hands and gave Morgana a – not so subtle – disapproving look. Her mistress, however, only replied with a mischievous smirk.

„Gwen here" she motioned towards the girl „is the most loyal maid in Camelot. She values the prince above everyone else." she informed her guest. Arthur could see Gwen blush and she couldn't help but smile against the rim of her cup. She quickly sobered, however, and returned to the conversation with Morgana.

„So you don't believe that he's worthy of his title?" she asked a bit more harshly then she intended. Stay cool Arthur, she reminded herself.

„No." she stated and to Arthur's surprise, her tone lacked all mocking „He'll make a good king. Much better than his father."

Well, if Arthur had been hurt by Morgana's earlier words, the devotion in this latter statement erased that feeling completely.

„For someone who doesn't like Prince Arthur, you speak quite highly of him." noted Arthur in a much better mood. Seriously, if Morgana told Arthur how she really felt about her foster brother, they would actually get on.

„To feed his ego? Never! But he has a good heart. He's brave and cares about nothing but his people. Am I right Gwen?" she turned to Gwen who was standing beside the bed, folding sheets. She snapped her head up, a little startled by the question.

„Yes. It's true." she almost whispered and did everything to avoid Morgana's and what she thought to be Lady Lora's gaze.

„And Merlin is no different." Morgana was yet again speaking to Arthur, who had to stifle the urge to burst out laughing. Merlin and bravery? Right…

The conversation was interrupted by the knocking on the door. All three heads turned and before Morgana could have given permission to enter, the door cracked open and Merlin's head appeared. Arthur nearly snorted. Typical...

„My ladies." he greeted them with a lopsided grin. Even though this form of address normally wouldn't indicate that Gwen was also included, it was obvious that Merlin meant all three of them. Something about the way he said it_ just _made it obvious. Arthur was startled to find herself thinking what a nice person Merlin was. Stupid womanly hormones talking.

The women in the room gave him sweet smiles in return.

Arthur included.

How could she not? Merlin's manic grin had always been infectious but there was  
something extra charming about it this time and Arthur just had to beam back at her servant.

„Speak of the devil…" Morgana elegantly arched an eyebrow as she spoke.

Merlin was already taking long steps towards the group but Morgana's cryptic comment made him slow down, his brows furrowed, but his smile was still plastered on his face.

„What?" he asked in confusion. His eyes examined their faces searchingly, hoping to find the answer. Arthur had to admit that he looked adorable.

„Oh, I was just telling Lady Lora about your many admirable features.." she said matter-of-factly.

Merlin looked at Arthur to confirm this and when she only raised her eyebrows and shrugged slightly to show that it was true, he cast his eyes down and mumbled unintelligibly, clearly embarrassed.

„Don't be so humble, Merlin!" Gwen stepped forward and smiled at him.

„Yes. I'm absolutely serious!" Morgana said gleefully and watched in amusement as Merlin's face reddened „I hope you know how lucky you are, Lady Lora, that Arthur put you in his care."

„Indeed!" said Gwen.

Morgana turned her head and smiled at her maid. They quickly started listing Merlin's other, apparently numerous, virtues, while Arthur was just standing – rather awkwardly – at the side, gripping her cup and staring at the blushing servant intently.

Merlin cast his gaze down, as if his shoes were the most fascinating sight in the world, and shook his head, mumbling something meaningless to refuse the praising.

„I know." whispered Arthur, her answer was barely audible above the laughter of Morgana and Gwen, it was only Merlin who had heard her. He lifted his azure orbs and locked gazes with Arthur, she could see his eyes widen but otherwise his face was blank.

Arthur had never had the ability (neither the inclination much of the time) to read Merlin's emotions or thoughts – it was hardly her fault in Arthur's opinion, sometimes she doubted the fool even had any coherent thoughts in his head – but now, under his surprisingly unnerving gaze, she wished she knew what was on his mind.

Was he surprised by her statement?

Well, Arthur meant it. Merlin took this…_madness _far better than anyone else would, he showed support and did everything in his (minimal) power to find the solution. Arthur knew that if the situation had happened to be reversed, she would've mocked her manservant to death already (and somewhere deep inside, she felt a pang of guilt because of that).

Oh, yes. Arthur knew exactly how lucky she was that it was Merlin who had found her in her (in her opinion awful) state in the woods and helped her compose herself, rather than some knight or guard.

When Arthur finally snapped out of her thoughts and focused on Merlin again, all of her doubts regarding Merlin's emotions vanished. His doe eyes grew larger (if that was even possible) and his lips curved into a small smile, Merlin must have been touched beyond words by Arthur's proclamation and now he was ogling Arthur like an idiot.

Needless to say that Arthur got slightly annoyed – Arthur always did when Merlin got over emotional – this time, however, she found the boy's behaviour somewhat _endearing_, more endearing than annoying actually, and part of her just simply wanted to ogle back at Merlin like a lunatic.

This idea was preposterous, so she fought back the urge and tried to roll her eyes in an exasperated manner.

She knew that she'd failed.

For one, Arthur wasn't fully successful at suppressing a grin, so her lips were keep twitching into a half smile, and two, the act of rolling one's eyes couldn't be as effective as it was supposed to be with these long eyelashes she had. If anything, they made the action seductive – Merlin knew that wasn't her intention, didn't he? Arthur found herself flushing a little at the thought.

Fortunately, Merlin seemed to have gotten the message and cleared his throat to get Morgana and Gwen's attention as well (they had had no problem amusing themselves) and was about to tell the reason he'd come.

That was a good question; _what on earth is he doing here? _she thought.

„Lady Lora, I wanted to tell you that Gaius has found the solution for your…problem" he hinted, piercing Arthur with his gaze.

She knew exactly what he meant; that Gaius had found the solution to change her back! Arthur wanted to fall on her knees and thank the Lord, the only thing stopping her was the company of Morgana and Gwen. Still, words could not express how relieved she felt that her misery would end soon.

How good that relief felt. Even if it only lasted till she burst into Gaius' chamber…

Arthur left in a hurry (making sure that Morgana and Gwen didn't suspect anything amiss, Arthur made them believe that her problem was a simple headache) and rushed through the corridors of the castle with Merlin in tow.

Only to find that Gaius hadn't exactly found the solution. Apparently, he only had a theory, a quite funny one…

„Truth is that only _you _know how to reverse the spell, sire…lady…Arthur." announced Gaius from behind the ubiquitous pile of books on his bench.

The physician's calm demeanour (which only broke when he had to address Arthur by title) was the opposite of Arthur's. She was pacing restlessly up and down, she had the strange mixture of the need to cry and to smash something against the wall, while Merlin was just standing on Gaius's right at the table, following her figure with his eyes anxiously.

Arthur only came to halt when she heard Gaius propose the idea that only she knew how to end this hell. Arthur had to do a double take at that.

„Gaius, if I knew how to do it, I would've done it a _long _time ago, believe me." she glared at him. But Gaius only shook his head with an amused expression and waved his hand dismissively, as if Arthur was an impudent child who refused to do as she was told out of sheer stubborness.

„No, you don't understand…" he said. No indeed, she didn't. Arthur didn't understand anything anymore…

„Do you remember Anhora? The keeper of the unicorns and his curse?" interrupted Merlin.

Of course she did, that curse almost erased the entire population of Camelot, and it'd been Arthur's fault. The memories of those excruciating few days still haunted the prince at night. She didn't dare think why Merlin would mention that now of all times, so she just nodded vigorously to urge her servant to continue.

„It's similar." he said in a solemn tone.

Arthur took a sharp breath. That could not be the case! The thought that another disaster could strike the people of Camelot because of a terrible mistake of Arthur's (but what exactly had he done this time? – he hadn't shot anything holy that any nature-loving sorcerer could be angry about. Well, she had caught a rabbit in the woods just before this nightmare began. Where there any sorcerers well known for a devotion to small fluffy woodland creatures?) scared her.

Something wasn't clear, though. If this situation was similar, as Merlin said, how come nothing extraordinary had happened at the court? The people seemed to be _fine _– not that Arthur wasn't glad about that – but Anhora's curse had taken effect almost immediately. Arthur draw the conclusion that only she was suffering the consequences this time. Her worry for the inhabitants dissolved at this new chain of thought.

All that was left was to find a way to grow the male parts of her body back (and get rid of these pesky female additions). Now how was she supposed to do that?

_Tests_.

Last time, it had been three tests which Arthur had to pass. Could that be the answer to this problem as well? Arthur, thinking that she'd be the smarter one this time, tried to go through all the possible tests she'd have to face, so that she could prepare herself mentally and physically.

But no matter how hard she was racking her brain, all Arthur could come up with was walking in high heels (and if it was really one of the tests, then sadly, she'd failed already and had little hope of improvement).

She was no closer to the solution for god's sake!

In her frustration Arthur lifted her arms, squeezed her fingers around an imaginary throat (which belonged to the blasted witch), trying very hard to strangle it while she let out a loud squeak.

Gaius and Merlin were looking at her with half pity and half fear. In the end, Merlin gathered his courage and approached Arthur, he stood beside her like the loyal servant (and maybe friend) he was to show support. Even if it didn't provide any practical help, Arthur could instantly feel part of her despair fade away because of the gesture.

„Do you remember what the sorceress said before she enchanted you, Arthur?" asked Gaius in all seriousness.

Merlin dipped her head to look into Arthur's face, an encouraging smile  
tugged at the corner of his lips. Obviously, he had the deep conviction Arthur would easily remember her words and end this ordeal before you could say _'burn all sorcerers!'  
_  
Arthur swallowed hard, she had no choice but to destroy Merlin's blind faith in her, and it felt awful.

She shook her head, to Gaius and Merlin's disappointment.

In the middle of the blast, he'd barely been able to make out a few words of the old woman and in all honesty, she hadn't been pondering on them since then. Even if she'd tried, Arthur wouldn't have been able to recall anything in the ragged state she was in at the moment…

„Because she must have told you that before the actual spell. Otherwise it wouldn't have worked." continued Gaius.

Arthur crossed her arms in front of her, closed her eyes and hung her aching head, causing her long locks to fall into her face. If there was a proper time to give up, this was it. And maybe Arthur should've.

Well, she refused to. She hadn't given up when Morgana had run off with her sword at the age of twelve, she could see no reason why she should let the witch run off with Arthur's manhood this time!

Arthur inhaled deeply to calm her nerves, to gather her strength – just like before battles – and repeated the process a couple of times. It might have been that Merlin knew Arthur well enough to realize what she was about to do and he got excited, too, or just a simple coincidence, but he shifted closer, causing the small distance between them disappear and Arthur's left shoulder brushed against Merlin's chest briefly.

The sudden touch shook Arthur out of her state, she lifted her head with determination in her eyes.

„Since we're at a dead end" she said casually „I'll go back to the forest to find…something. Anything that can help."

Gaius wanted to protest but Merlin spoke up first.

„When will we leave?" he asked Arthur, she turned her head and was glad to see that his eyes mirrored the same dedication.

„Tomorrow. Morning." she stated, and since there was nothing more to discuss, she turned and made to leave. Merlin followed Arthur to the corridor to talk about further details.

They were standing outside Gaius' chamber. Merlin was rabbiting on about the provisions he'd pack, which horses he'd prepare, while Arthur was preoccupied with a stubborn strand of hair which kept tickling her nose. She did her best to blew it back but it constantly fell into her face. This went on until Merlin got fed up with Arthur's useless attempts, he stopped in his speech, grabbed the loose strand and tucked it behind Arthur's ear softly.

„You're hands are not for swinging swords only, you know." he said with a smirk.

Arthur was so dumbstruck that she couldn't come back at Merlin with her usual retort; _Shut up, Merlin!_ She was standing like a statue, eyes wide and lips parted slightly. The disturbing part was that she didn't know if she was shocked because of the shock that Merlin dared to touch his master/mistress in such friendly manner or because of something else Arthur couldn't determine (she had a sinking feeling it was the latter).

„Don't be late." she managed to breathe it out.

Merlin just grinned obliviously and waved his hand before disappearing behind the door, so Arthur - still in her startled deer state – started taking slow steps towards her chambers.

**.**

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**Review, please? =)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey! Here's the next chapter.  
**

**First, I'd like to apologise to Haven-Holmes, as I couldn't keep my promise, and also to those who have been waiting for this chapter. Please don't hate me (more than you must *smiles innocently*).  
**

**And secondly, thanks to Hoglee for proof-reading and polishing the story! =)  
**

**Chapter 5**

It was surreal. _Really_.

It was barely dawn and Merlin was already in her chamber fresh and bright, bringing a tray with her breakfast. Never during his service had Merlin been on time and Arthur knew that there wouldn't be another occasion in her lifetime.

The only reason Merlin had bothered to wake up this early was because they were riding to the Western Lands to search for clues (and the sorceress-with-the-world's-worst-sense-of-humour herself) and in order to make it back for dinner, which she couldn't skip because she'd been invited by her father - the king himself, they had to leave very early.

They had also agreed that Arthur would give Mary the morning off, so that Merlin could gather the equipment and bring it to Arthur's chamber.

Apart from the fact that Arthur had had to wake up at an inhuman hour, she'd been looking forward to the day. Not only would they finally take some action, but she could finally start the day as she'd used to when she'd been the Crown Prince – Merlin trying to drag her out of bed and Arthur throwing goblets with occasionally bits of food and the odd shoe at him.

But the buffoon managed to fail even the simple task of behaving _normally _around Arthur despite her present female condition. Merlin had never behaved more formally, not even when he was sulking for the usual ridiculous reasons (as strange as it was, when Merlin was in a grumpy mood, he embodied all the characteristics of a proper servant. In fact, Arthur was always half-inclined to offend the boy simply to get some proper respect from him for once).

„Good morning! Hope you slept well, sire." said Merlin as he – instead of simply throwing it down as he usually did – put the tray down as carefully as he could on the small mahogany table.

Although Arthur was awake, she didn't say anything, she didn't even stir. Patience was among Arthur's many virtues, so she would just wait till Merlin resorted to his usual, more unorthodox methods.

„Arthur, wake up." Merlin almost whispered the words from the window. Arthur rolled her eyes. What was the point of whispering if you were trying to wake someone up? „We have to leave in half an hour if we want to get back in time."

Still nothing.

„Arthur, wake up!" he was clearly getting impatient but his voice was still soft.

Nope. Arthur was not willing to move.

„Arthur?…"

She gave up.

„_Mer_lin…" she grunted (in a rather higher pitch than normal) as she rolled onto her back.

„Yes?" he asked in a formal tone and moved to open the curtains.

_'Yes'? You really don't get it, do you?_

Arthur took the opportunity that Merlin was standing with his back to her and she quickly grabbed one of her fluffy pillows to throw at her ignorant servant.

It was a quite well aimed blow which hit Merlin in the head – hah, she still possessed some of her legendary fighting skills… in pillow fights... which was... _hardly useful in life or death situations, _Arthur thought, a little crestfallen.

„Hey! What was that for?" he turned around while scratching the back of his head. He forgot about his obedient demeanour and took a more demanding tone this time, which only perked Arthur up again.

She gathered herself into a kneeling position on the bed and grabbed another pillow as a weapon. Merlin blinked a couple of times but was smart enough to hold his hands up to defend himself, and this time he caught the pillow just before it could hit him in the chest.

Arthur had prepared herself to duck down in case Merlin threw it back – she kind of wanted him to throw it back – but he simply dropped it to the floor and went on with his _chores_.

_Good luck with that_, Arthur thought. Unlike Merlin, Mary was always on time with her duties and she'd already tidied Arthur's chamber the previous night, with a ruthless efficiency surprising in such a meek girl; so Merlin had literally nothing to put away. In spite of that, he was still lingering around the dressing screen, avoiding Arthur.

She narrowed her eyes – Merlin would not get away that easily!

Arthur glanced around to find something more solid than a pillow, and something caught her eye. With a smug smile she slowly climbed off her bed. Merlin was totally oblivious to this as he was still busy cleaning up the non-existent mess.

Arthur picked up the chosen item from her dressing-table, and with a swift movement sent it hurtling at Merlin.  
The brush successfully hit Merlin in the head, and this time his yelp was followed by an uncharacteristically angry snarl.

„Arthur! What is wrong with you?! Did you miss me so much that you decided to throw things at me for absolutely _no reason_?"

„_What is wrong with me?"_ she shrieked with an amused glint in her eyes (she decided not to answer Merlin's other question).

Merlin was at a total loss; he was looking at Arthur as if she'd lost her mind but Arthur didn't care, she was enjoying this too much – annoying Merlin was her favourite activity besides training.

She surveyed the room yet again for possible weapons but all was left was flowers – _eh, they'll do the job._ And with that she grabbed a handful of flowers, got around the bed and threw them into Merlin's face.

„Arthur…" he closed his eyes and did nothing to prevent the shower of flowers.

So he got another portion into his face.

„Arthur, I'm warning you…" he said, then quickly bent down to gather some flowers for himself and threw them at her.

But Arthur had already got herself one of the pillows and started to swing it at Merlin. He jumped out of the way and thus began a frantic chase around the room. With his long legs, Merlin was skipping around the bed and the dressing screen with Arthur on his tail, but in the end, he got cornered between the bed and the dressing-table. Arthur knew that this was her chance and prepared to strike the final blow but Merlin ducked and grabbed Arthur's wrists.

She was forced to let go off the pillow and was at Merlin's mercy.

„I win!" he said with a proud grin.

Arthur didn't answer, for she was trying to catch her breath – this game had tired her more than she'd expected.

They stayed like that for a few moents. Merlin didn't let go off her, he probably thought that Arthur would attack again. He just stared down at her, daring Arthur to try.

She didn't have the slightest desire for freedom, however.

Arthur couldn't _not_ notice the fact that their bodies were just inches apart – she would've had to lean forward only a slightly to bury her face into his chest (should she have wanted to, which of course she didn't. _Really_ she didn't) – and thanks to their new height difference, Merlin easily towered over Arthur, so she could actually feel his hot breath on her skin as he rhythmically breathed in and out. It was quite comforting.

But then something broke the strange – and, she had to admit to herself, _sensual_ – mood because Merlin's eyes dropped and he suddenly jerked away. He cleared his throat and looked everywhere but at Arthur, however the most obvious give-away of Merlin's discomfort was his burning cheeks. She didn't have to think hard to guess what the problem was; the fact that Arthur was wearing a nightgown…more specifically the fact that Arthur had boobs in it.

By the time Arthur got to this realization, Merlin was already on the other side of the room, picking up the flowers with rather unsteady hands, so she walked slowly behind the screen to change – they had already lost enough valuable time with the impromptu pillow fight (not that she regretted having it).

As she was putting on a pair of black trousers and a rather tight light coloured shirt, which Merlin had borrowed from Morgana (it was her questing outfit, actually), she couldn't help but wonder if breasts always provoked this reaction, namely _chronic throat clearing_, from Merlin – or was it specifically Arthur's new mammary additions?

When Arthur was ready (and Merlin had managed to stop clearing his throat long enough to suggest they leave), they walked down to the stables through the empty corridors of the castle. Merlin was rambling on about what Arthur would have to tell her father at dinner if he asked about their little trip but Arthur was barely paying attention, she was too absorbed in the wonderful feeling of wearing trousers again!

They quickly mounted their horses – well, Merlin mounted his own horse, while Arthur had to get on a completely unfamiliar and obnoxious mare – and rode back to where they'd last seen the witch, retracing their footsteps. They rode astonishingly fast, never stopping and, incredibly, with a total lack of bickering. The only difference was that they were travelling on two separate steeds this time.

When they finally arrived at the forest around midday, Arthur quickly dismounted her horse and started searching around the woods for any type of clue. Deep down she was hoping she would find the cure in a small vial at the foot of a tree with the note; _To Arthur Pendragon from the Crazed Witch_ and all she would have to do is drink it, but what rational part of her mind was left kept telling her that it was not likely to happen.

Merlin also reminded her every once in a while that there was nothing here and that they should head back soon. Arthur tried to ignore the whining of her servant but after an hour of futile searching, she had to accept that they were no closer to finding the solution.

But it was easier said than done…

„That damned witch!" she screamed and started kicking a log furiously as if that piece of wood was the cause of all her problems. It must've been the most unladylike thing to do _ever_, but Arthur didn't care.

Merlin was just standing and watching the scene helplessly, he only dared to approach Arthur when she'd slumped down on the previously abused log (she'd realized eventually that her irritatingly dainty foot could have done it little damage, even had it been animate).

She buried her face in her hands and was at the verge of crying (_again)_! Why was she such a_ crybaby _these days?  
Arthur didn't look up – she was intent on regaining control over her body – so she could only sense Merlin slowly sittng down next to her on the log. She mentally noted that the situation was very similar to that in her room with Gwen two days before; she was sulking and it was up to someone else to console her. Come to think of it she got a lot more sympathy sulking as a girl than she had ever done as a boy.

She remembered how comforting and soothing Gwen's friendly embrace had been and a question popped into her head unintentionally.

_Will Merlin hug me?_

God knew she needed a hug. It was obvious now from experience that nothing could ease one's sorrow more effectively than cuddling up to somebody. Of course, Arthur knew that she wouldn't be able to expect this form of consolation once she was back to being the Crown Prince – no knight of Camelot should show such weakness and vulnerability. But she was a woman now and she had every right to desire a warm hug, goddammit!

So she waited patiently in a still position for Merlin to make a move.

But nothing happened. Merlin was just sitting next to her like a great sack of potatoes. Arthur's guess was that he was just staring at her with those stupid doe eyes of his.

_That insensitive bastard!_ Couldn't he see that Arthur needed some comfort? Merlin was, indeed, completely incompetent.

„_Mer_lin?…" she lifted her head and sighed in a tired and disbelieving tone. Trust Merlin to be clueless whenever the situation required some brain.

„Hm?" he tilted his head to the side and looked at Arthur curiously.

As Arthur looked back up at him, she realized that she'd been wrong. Understanding and worry both reflected in Merlin's gaze; it wasn't that he was oblivious to her emotional state, he probably just didn't _dare_ to console Arthur by touching her. And if Arthur was honest, she couldn't blame him for that. In the past, if Merlin had started hugging his master whenever Arthur was in distress, she would've thrown the boy in the stocks right away, personally pelted him with rotten fruit to make sure that he would never try it ever again, then used him for target practice for good measure, and he'd made that clear to Merlin several times.

But what was she to do now?...She had been so excited by the prospect of snuggling up to Merlin, feeling his body's warmth. Arthur quickly concluded that Merlin's shoulder was perfect to rest her head upon, and that ridiculous red neckerchief was practically begging Arthur to nuzzle her nose in it!

She wondered what Merlin's scent would be like – _hm, probably the mixture of soap and herbs_, she thought. Arthur would've gladly asked _„why don't you hug me, idiot?"_ to initiate physical contact, but she reluctantly decided against it.

„I can't stay like this…a princess of Camelot." she said instead with a humourless laugh.

Then she realized that in his father's eyes Lady Lora was just some guest in Camelot, no one knew her true identity besides Merlin and Gaius, so she added in a solemn tone;

„Not even that…"

Moments of silence followed her statement, it was broken by Merlin in the end.

„We _will_ find the cure." he said with determination.  
Arthur didn't say anything to this – what could she? She was losing hope quite quickly.

„We should leave if want to get back in time to Camelot." said Merlin as he stood up and walked to mount his horse. Arthur did the same, though with rather more reluctance, and the two of them set off to reach the castle before nightfall.

They arrived just in time for Arthur to change for dinner and, without Mary's invaluable help, she never would've succeeded. The girl had fastened the laces of Arthur's deep purple gown in record time and equally quickly arranged her hair in an elegant plait, so Arthur was already sweeping – rather stumbling because she still had troubles with walking in high heels – through the corridors with Merlin to dine with the king.

Her smilewas more of a grimace when she stepped into the (now exceptionally exquisitely decorated) dining hall, with Merlin in tow. Arthur had never been enthusiastic about such events: due to Uther's high expectations and strict parenting, dining with the king had always been more of an interrogation than a pleasant evening chat between father and son. And now, completely exhausted by their journey and having to pretend to be a complete stranger who happened to be a lady, Arthur was even less keen.

It was also unfortunate that by the time Arthur and Merlin stepped in, the others had already arrived. Uther sat regally at the head of the long table, Morgana was on his right in one of her gorgeous dresses, and surprisingly, three lords – whom Arthur instantly recognized – also attended. The tall, lean man with a neat beard on his chin, sitting next to Morgana was Lord Alden. He was roughly the same age as Arthur's father and a trusted ally, friend of the royal family. He was a guest of the castle frequently and Arthur respected him greatly.

Lord Kenric on the other hand, who sat right beside Lord Alden, was a thoroughly unpleasant man in Arthur's opinion. He was only slightly older than Arthur but there was something about him that highly irritated the future king of Camelot; his shifty nature, how he tended to laugh too loudly at his own jokes and the way his eyes brightened when the king spoke about raising taxes. But what really aggravated Arthur was the fact that he believed jousting tournaments were _„pointless and stupid" _(although Arthur suspected this was more because Lord Kenric was absolutely useless at all forms of combat than because he had any moral objections to the sport).

The third noble was sitting opposite Lord Alden so as to leave the seat on Uther's left empty. This was Lord Oswald. He was a chunky, old –_ very_ old – man (he was as ancient as Gaius!) who, due to his age, had hardly anything to do with politics anymore. But despite being a bit doddery and senile, Uther really was fond of him, and, truth be told, Arthur adored the nobleman too.

It took the company a few minutes to notice Arthur standing in the doorway. As it turned out, another drawback of losing the position of crown prince was that people didn't find Arthur as important as she would've liked and had come to expect. It was only after long minutes of awkward standing (Merlin was just about to announce her presence) that Uther looked up from his conversation with Morgana and noticed his own daughter.

„Ah, Lady Lora" he said with a smile „we've been waiting for you."

Instinctively, Arthur offered a small smile in return, it was rare that Uther showed such affection towards Arthur, and even though she knew her father was simply showing proper courtesy to a guest, it still warmed Arthur's heart.

„During my son's absence, I'd like you to take his seat atdinner. Please, sit." he motioned to his left.

_Oh, the irony_, thought Arthur as she slowly walked along the table in the dim candle light and settled herself on the chair with as much grace as she could manage.

Arthur knew it was only her paranoia acting up, but now that she was sitting literally one foot away from her father, she felt as if she would be exposed in any minute. Suspecting magic where no one else suspected it was Uther's special forte. He'd often said '_he could always smell the rotten stench of sorcery', _and Arthur was sure as hell she stankof it right now.

„I've been told that you rode out today, Lady Lora" said Uther casually, as he moved to drink from his cup „I hope you find the land to your liking."

His tone was carefree, friendly even, but Arthur was startled by the sudden words and fidgeted awkwardly. To cover her suspicious reaction, she mirrored her father's movement and reached for her cup to take a sip - only to find it empty. She laughed nervously and inwardly cursed ; _that's right, dig yourself deeper, Arthur!_

Fortunately, that was when Merlin stepped in, standing between Arthur and the king as he stooped to fill her cup with wine.

„My lady." he bowed a little to show subservience but his glare clearly said „_pull yourself together!_" And Arthur did just that. She coughed to steady her voice and then answered the king.

„Yes, definitely."

„I can only_ hope_ that my son's half-witted manservant" her father turned her head slightly to glare at Merlin who was pressed flat against the wall, squirming under Uther's stern gaze, „didn't fail to show you all the beauty that the land has to offer."

„Oh no-no-no" she defended him, maybe a little too vehemently „Merlin was a perfect companion. He showed me everything worth seeing and informed me that the kingdom has never flourished more than it has under your ruling, my lord."

The king's eyebrows shot up at Arthur's answer – and no wonder; Uther had always considered Merlin a bumbling idiot and never expected such (as he thought )sensible words from him, let alone such elaborate praise – but acknowledged the flattery with a nod.

After this short exchange, no one bothered to talk to Arthur or ask her opinion about anything during dinner. Even though Arthur knew that she should've been relieved that she was left in peace, part of her felt offended. Not only that, but also bored as heck.

_Once_ she tried to join the discussion; she gave her humble opinion concerning one of topics that came up, and although the four men at the table were polite enough to listen to her speech and nod approvingly, they didn't even answer, simply changingthe topic and ignored her for the rest of the evening!

Arthur was utterly confused at first. Hadn't she proven that she was intelligent enough to discuss more complex matters than _dressing_? Maybe not in body, but she was still Arthur Pendragon, one of the best (if not _the_ best) strategists in the five kingdoms, so yes, with her detailed comment regarding the defence of the border regions, she most definitely had.

She was in deep thought – trying to figure out the reason for her father's patronising conduct toward her – when she realized that Morgana was condemned to the same fate. Everything became clear as glass at this revelation.

Apparently, only _men_ were allowed to talk about things like politics, magic and the well-being of the people (all the interesting topics, that is). And, looking back on all the feasts and banquets she could remember, she realized that it'd always been that way - but before _the incident_, Arthur hadn't given a flying toss about it…because up until _the incident_ he'd been one of the men.

Arthur couldn't help but pity Morgana that she had to put up with such dismissive attitudes all the time, just because she was a woman. Yes, she could be sneaky and irritating (she was most of the time), but she was also smart so it angered Arthur that her father favoured the opinion of those like Lord Kenric over Morgana's.

Despite being outraged by this senseless discrimination, Arthur was still bored. Fuming in silence just didn't make it easier to suffer the evening through, so she found something (or rather _someone_) elseto entertain her; Merlin.

As always, he was being his idiotic self and was fooling around while serving the dishes.

This, in itself, wasn't anything new. The daft sod never stood still in the corner like servants should when they were not needed. Arthur didn't know if it was because he _couldn't_ thanks to his natural clumsiness or because he simply refused to – Merlin had his firm opinion about everything and if he labelled something "unnecessary" in his little peasant-brain (like knocking or addressing Arthur by title), there was nothing you could do to persuade him otherwise.

In a sense, Merlin was like a clumsy cat; he always found something to amuse himself with, but in the end, he either dropped it, broke it, scratched it, ruined it, fell over it or got himself tangled up in it. Why Arthur put up with him was a mystery, as Uther had already pointed out many times.  
She figured it was because he was _Arthur's_ incredibly loyal and awkward cat…

And tonight, instead of glaring daggers at him like Arthur usually did when Merlin was an idiot, she observed and let herself be amused by his silliness; how he tripped in his own feet on his way back after refilling her cup (and trying to cover it up as if it'd been on purpose – needless to say, it wasn't working), how he melodramatically rolled his eyes whenever her father got into a heated rant about magic (Merlin tended to do that, Arthur didn't understand why, though) and how he performed little stunts with the pitcher out of boredom.

When he became aware of his audience – which consisted of Arthur, Morgana, Gwen and the old Lord Oswald who also found Merlin more interesting than the male company at the table – he got bolder. He started mocking Lord Alden, Lord Kenric (and even the king!) by impersonating them. Merlin did everything to make them laugh, and when he saw how hard they were struggling _not_ to snickerr, he beamed proudly- which only made Arthur (and probably the others as well) want to grin harder. It was a dangerous game with which he risked his head but it helped them all pull through the night without keeling over from the perpetual dullness.

Thanks to Merlin's efforts to cheer Arthur up (she wanted to believe that Merlin was acting up onlyfor _her_ pleasure), she was in a much better mood when, around midnight, Morgana suddenly announced that she would retire for the night. Arthur took the opportunity and shortly followed her foster sister's example.

„It's been a lovely evening, my lord" she yawned, she really was tired but also wanted to escape as soon as she could „but allow me to bid you good night."

„Of course, my lady. Good night and thank you for the pleasant evening." said Uther and the others nodded in agreement.

_Right._

As she was trying to balance herself on her high heels, her father addressed her again.

„I hope you'll join us at the feast tomorrow." he was looking at her expectantly.

„Of course." she answered at last with a forced smile „Thank you." she did a curtsey and quickened her pace (forcing Merlin to literally run after her), never minding the risk of falling head-first onto the floor.

The moment the wooden doors closed behind them, Arthur took off his uncomfortable shoes with a most unlady-like grunt and threw them at Merlin to carry while she strolled happily along the stone floor of the corridors, rejoicing in her new-found freedom of movement. The guards on duty might have found it strange that she was barefoot but they couldn't really comment on it, so she didn't care.

They were stumping along shoulder-to-shoulder but no words passed between them on the way to Arthur's chamber; she was busy sulking about the king's proposal, and Merlin…well, he surely had his own reasons for keeping quiet.

Arthur wasn't happy about the invitation to the feast at all: if it was going to be similar in any way to the dinner she'd just had, it was going to be a horrible night. Besides, she didn't have anything nice to wear (she tried not to think about when exactly clothes started to matter so much)!

She was just stewing in her own juice when – after climbing an awful lot of stairs – they came to an abrupt stop. They'd just taken a right turn on a corridor when both of them halted and stood still.

Something wasn't right. Both of them knew that, but none of two could identify exactly _what _was wrong. Then it clicked for Arthur.

„_Mer_lin" she said through gritted teeth „_this_ is not _my_ chamber, you buffoon." she motioned towards the door at the end of the corridor.

„Oh." was all Merlin said when it finally sank in and continued staring ahead with wide eyes.

Indeed, it wasn't Arthur's quarters…not at the moment at least. The room, which was safely guarded, was Arthur's _old_ chamber. Most likely both of them had taken this direction instinctively, without realizing where they'd been going. But Arthur decided to blame Merlin anyway.

„Thanks a lot _Mer_lin" she said with sarcasm „now I have to walk twice as much!"

This seemed to snap the boy out of his daze.

„How is this my fault?" he asked incredulously „I was following you!"

„Let me inform you that as my servant, it's your job to lead me to my chambers." she declared and folded her arms in front of her bosom. Merlin scowled at her and Arthur was sure a cheeky retort would soon follow, but to her surprise, he whipped around and offered his right arm instead.

„Then let me escort you to your chambers, _my lady, _lest you get lost in this huge, _scary _castle at this late hour." he mocked.

Arthur glared at him, but nevertheless took his arm, for she was feeling exhausted and was glad to have someone to lean on – if Merlin was thrown for a second by Arthur's willingness, she refused to notice it – she slipped her left arm around his right, while resting her other hand on his biceps and let herself be guided by him.

The first steps might have been weird but then a comfortable silence settled between them and Arthur finally felt at peace. She'd been right when she'd desired Merlin's embrace in the forest earlier that day, his closeness had a comforting effect on Arthur.

And Merlin did smell of soap and all kinds of herbs! His scent reminded Arthur of his childhood, when he'd used to sneak into Gaius's chamber without permission so that she could play with the forbidden colourful vials. It took all of Arthur's strength not to burrow her nose into his jacket to lose herself in the blissful memories of carefree childhood, so she broke the silence to knock such thoughts out of her head.

„I should say thank you…" she started „without your foolery and incompetence at dinner, I would've choked myself just to escape those boring blokes."

„Thanks, I guess." he replied somewhat confused. True, it was a compliment in form of an insult but Merlin got the picture.

„Who would've thought you could imitate Kenric that well." she smirked.

„You forget that I'm also forced to spend time with these _boring blokes_, Arthur, not just you." he said and Arthur had never felt happier that Merlin had used her real name instead of her title.

„Ahh, you can't imagine how wonderfulit is to hear _Arthur_-" she sighed with relief but didn't have the chance to finish because her idiotic servant interrupted.

„Gee, when I thought you couldn't possibly be a bigger prat…" Merlin shook his head in disbelief. Arthur pinched his arm to express her dislike (but didn't let go off him) and continued.

„-since now everyone calls me Lora, you dimwit!" she barked the second half of her sentence into his ears „You don't know how awful it is when everyone addresses you as 'my lady'."

„You call me a _girl_ all the time." he remarked matter-of-factly. She couldn't really say anything to that since it was true; so she just shrugged and stayed silent for the rest of their journey.

They parted at the door of Arthur's current chamber. That was, again, a bit troublesome and embarrassing. First, Merlin almost walked in behind Arthur out of habit. Fortunately he realized his mistake just in time, otherwise Mary, who had been waiting inside for Arthur, could've easily misjudged the situation.

Then he almost walked off with Arthur's shoes; Mary was loosening the laces of Arthur's dress when there was a knock on the door. The girls shared a confused look, and then Mary warily opened the door only to find Merlin smiling apologetically at her with a pair of shoes in his hands. When he looked further into the candle lit room, he noticed Arthur peering around the door curiously, with her hands gripping her dress at the front, keeping it from falling to the ground. At this tempting sight, Merlin's smile became more nervous, he quickly shoved the shoes into Mary's hands and left without a word.

Mary looked back at her mistress, her eyebrows having disappeared up into her hairline. Arthur had neither the means or inclination to explain the situation to her – mostly because she couldn't comprehend this new dynamic between her and Merlin, either – so she just groaned, got out of her dress and went to bed. Her tired body was aching all over and she just wanted to sleep…

_Sleep. _

_Sleep. _

_Sleep._

_JUST SLEEP! _she kept repeating herself until she eventually fell asleep.

She was in deep slumber for a couple of hours until her eyes snapped open and she suddenly sat bolt up in bed. She looked out the window and realized that it was still dark. But then what on earth had woken her?

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, she was covered in sweat and even though she managed slow her panicked breathing, Arthur still felt as if her body was _burning_ (strangely, some regions more intensely than others) and shivers were running up and down her spine.

She came to the conclusion that it must have had been a nightmare. It was absolutely _not_ common, but like every other mere mortal, the ever-valiant crown prince of Camelot also had nightmares every now and then. At any other time, Arthur would've just gone back to sleep and wouldn't have dwelled upon the matter, but under the given circumstances, she had a hunch that the dream was somehow connected to the witch and her curse. Who knew, maybe buried memories – hopefully about the encounter with the witch – had surfaced from her unconscious!

She was sitting on her bed, trying to at least picture a few lingering images from her dream. And she did. It hit Arthur all of a sudden – how she wished it hadn't! – and her azure eyes grew wide in the dark. She buried her face in her hands in embarrassment, and kept chanting _no-no-no- NO _in her head.

The dream didn't provide any clues about the possible solution or indeed any information about the witch whatsoever – it wasn't even a 'nightmare' in the traditional sense – but it sure as hell erased any remaining doubts regarding her sexuality, and it also explained why Arthur didn't look at Gwen as he'd used to; her body was now clearly and unquestionably attracted to men!

Why else would she dream of half-naked men? And there had been a _lot _of half-naked men…

She whimpered as she recalled her steamy and rather _stupid _dream; she'd been outside somewhere – maybe in a forest or a clearing, she wasn't sure, but there had been a lot of green – and she'd been surrounded by all these men. Based on their (little amount of) clothing, they'd been knights. And she recognized most of them!

_Oh. Dear. God._

For some mysterious reason, they'd been wearing only their trousers and they'd also had their swords with them – why they'd needed _weapons_ when all they'd been doing was laughing and reaching out to touch a flimsily dressed Arthur, she couldn't fathom.

Arthur hugged her knees to her chest and hung her head in shame, she wished she could deny that she'd enjoyed their soft brushes but she couldn't. As a knight, Arthur had seen his fellow knights undressed plenty of times but never had it aroused Arthur, now however, even the _thought_ made something stir deep inside her.

„Could things get any worse?" came her muffled voice.

It turned out they could. Arthur slowly lifted her head, her eyes as big as saucers, and dropped her jaws in shock when she realized that Merlin – silly, immature, _girlish_ Merlin – also made an appearance in her dream.

He'd just popped out of nowhere, took three long strides, grabbed Arthur and pulled her close. So close that the only barrier between their bodies had been their clothing.  
_But why was he the only one fully dressed?_ Arthur thought, and that stupid, small voice at the back of her mind retorted; _Would you have preferred him naked? _

Honestly, she couldn't answer.

While one of his arms had been holding Arthur firmly at her waist, Merlin had been running his fingers through her long blond locks – she recalled how _good_ it'd felt as he'd rubbed his palm against the nape of her neck and she shivered – then Merlin moved on to caressing the sensitive skin on her neck, tentatively drawing small circles with his index finger.

Arthur became so flushed at the flashback that she touched that same spot on her throat, wondering if she could evoke that fantastic feeling, but _dream Merlin_ had obviously done something differently because it just wasn't the same…

She was utterly stunned by the intimacy and the passion of her _moment_ with the dream version of Merlin. Intimate and passionate were two attributes Arthur would've never used to describe their bond (or whatever it was between them) before, but she remembered her dream so vividly; Merlin's gaze had been so intense that his cerulean eyes could've burnt a hole in her soul, nothing like the usual piercing look with which he could always lay guilt trips on the prince and could see right through Arthur whenever he wanted.

But _dream Merlin_ had taken it one step further, he'd pressed his lean body against Arthur's fragile figure and invaded her personal space with confidence, not asking for permission – when had Merlin asked for permission to do anything anyway? – _dream Arthur_ hadn't seemed to mind his boldness, though. Quite the contrary, she'd been fascinated by him.

She'd been tugging at his brown jacket, running her hands along his long arms and chest to feel every inch of his body under the rough material. And this rather attractive (and strangely quiet) version of Merlin liked it, for the corner of his mouth turned up in an asymmetric smile. It'd been that knowing smile which he always wore (and Arthur always wanted to slap off his face) but far less idiotic and somehow…different. More devilish.

His blue eyes had also grown dark with a sort of hunger and desire. His hands had slowly slipped down Arthur's sides – strictly following the curve of her form – to rest on her hips, then he'd unexpectedly pulled her closer into him, creating a small, but undeniably pleasurable friction between their bodies and a wave of electricity had shot through her light frame.

Arthur was sure she would've screamed in delight had she not woken up at that precise moment.

_What a pity. _

She leaned back against the bedpost and let out a shaky sigh. Needless to say that recalling her dream had _not _been a good idea, for that peculiar feeling of warmth radiating from her core – which Arthur had no choice but to identify as the female manifestation of sexual arousement – was almost unbearable now.

Maybe Arthur should've been brooding over the fact that she was lusting after Merlin of all people, but the memory of holding onto him was still fresh in her mind and all Arthur could feel was disappointment that it had ended, the cool sheets were oh so unfeeling compared to Merlin's warm body pressed up on hers.

Lying aroused in bed, Arthur couldn't help but curse Merlin for his maddeningly slow pace. If he hadn't spent that much time with _only_ caressing – true, it'd been so incredibly good that it'd made Arthur weak in the knees, but make a _move_ – they could've done so much more.

As Arthur slipped into her fantasy, her hands trailed down her velvety skin and ran over her lower stomach, her smooth thighs and then up her sides, imagining (and fervently wishing) that they were Merlin's instead. Whether the simple movements or the thought of doing this with Merlin sent the tingling sensation up and down her spine, she wasn't sure; but there was something strangely exciting and hot about the idea of _being_ with the lanky servant physically and mentally. Arthur didn't know if the real Merlin – who constantly shook like a leaf on hunting trips – could ever be as daring and dominating as he'd been in her dream, but she decided that in her fantasy, he could. And he was.

She continued stroking her body more boldly as she pictured Merlin in her mind putting on a predatory smile, grabbing her nightgown at her thighs and pulling it over her head with one swift movement, leaving Arthur standing in front of him in all her naked glory.

Heat was rapidly increasing between her legs but when Arthur imagined Merlin eyeing her bare body from head to the toe with a lustful gaze, something twitched in her core and she squirmed. Arthur somehow knew she could not ignore the feeling, so she let her fingers drift downwards to find the spot that demanded attention. While Arthur was rubbing the slick flesh between her legs with one hand, her other hand was caressing the skin on her neck and breasts – Arthur could not get enough of the waves of pleasure that rolled through her each time her fingers brushed her (already hardened) nipples.

Obviously, it did provide some relief but not nearly enough, for instead of her own body, Arthur would've been more glad to trace down Merlin's shoulders, chest and everything else that was hidden under those shabby clothes. So she quickly made Merlin get rid of them in her fantasy; he yanked his tunic and neckerchief off and gathered Arthur in his long arms just like he'd done in her dream – except this time there was nothing between them as their chests collided – then he captured Arthur's lips with his own.

She tried to imagine as best as she could what it would be like to feel Merlin's perfect, hot, insolent mouth on hers – to allow his tongue full access and let him taste every bit of her. To give him full control and melt into him completely.

Yes, Arthur quickly reached the conclusion that she wanted all that was Merlin, to take everything by giving all she could offer. And even though it was only her imagination, Arthur could clearly hear Merlin unbutton his trousers – making sure not to break the kiss – with the intention of taking her there and then. Arthur, right on cue, wrapped her legs around his waist, and Merlin didn't waste time, lowering their bodies to get into a more comfortable position. Arthur didn't pay much attention to the details, she couldn't tell if they were having sex on the clearing (with the knights surrounding them), or in her chamber, or on Gaius's bench – and she didn't much care. All she could focus on was Merlin. Handsome, idiotic, _perfect_ Merlin.

She pictured him above her; panting and face contorted in ecstasy. Feeling as if her body could set on fire and frantically gasping for air in the suddenly stifling room, Arthur knew she was getting closer and closer to hitting the high spot, and she was eager to get to it. Her hand was almost numb from the rubbing but stopping was simply not an option, and the harder Merlin thrust his hips to seek friction between them in her fantasy, the harder Arthur rubbed against herself.

When she could finally feel her climax, she quickened her pace and arched her back (leaning into the touch of the man who remained only in her head and unfortunately not in the bed with her) letting out a more or less stifled moan as chills of pleasure shot through her body. Arthur took her time riding each wave of ecstasy until she was lying with her limbs spread out over the huge bed.

She stayed still for a few minutes, breathing heavily and giggling occasionally a bit – she had no idea why, though, most likely because of the absurdity of the situation – then as her clouded mind cleared, her brain registered that she'd just satisfied herself by creating a bunch of dirty fantasies about her manservant – she should've been ashamed. _Mortified _even.

But she was way too exhausted to ponder over this disturbing revelation, so Arthur curled up on herself in the nest of the cushions and drifted into a blissful slumber with a smile on her face instead.

**.**

**.**

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**Gee, I had such a hard time writing the smutty scene! It was the first time I've written anything like this _ **  
**(and it wasn't even the "real thing")**

**Thanks for reading! =)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who follows/favourites/reads the story! Means a lot! =)  
**

**And thanks to Hoglee, my awesome beta!  
**

**Chapter 6 **

_Satisfied. _

That's how Arthur felt when she woke up to Mary's gentle prodding the next morning.  
As Arthur rolled over and was stretching her muscles like a cat in her warm bed, (tangling up in the soft sheets during the process), Mary opened the curtains and light filled the tiny room – well, 'tiny' might have been a bit of an exaggeration but compared to what Arthur was normally used to, the room was just a broom cupboard.

Despite the fact her eyes were still closed, Arthur knew that the sun was already high when Mary appeared to serve breakfast (or was it lunch?). But Arthur wasn't angry in the least, for she was a lady and more importantly; a guest, which meant that she didn't have to rise at the break of dawn like the Prince of Camelot should've. No training. No council meetings. No patrols. In fact, if she'd wanted, she could've stayed in bed all day. _Heck, I could get used to this_, she thought.

Arthur's state of bliss was further deepened when she tasted the air; it smelled different. Better, to be honest. The flowers still reminded her of lying in the middle of a meadow, but the scent was fresh and sweeter.

She lifted her head and opened her eyelids lazily. Her blurred vision cleared, and Arthur languidly took in the sight of Mary placing the last vase of the new, lavender-coloured flowers on the table. Arthur was still quite sleepy and didn't have enough brain capacity (or knowledge about flowers in general) to realize that they were bouquets of _actual _lavender.

The next minute, Mary turned to the bed and was facing the stupidly grinning Arthur. The girl smiled politely but remained silent, probably trying to figure out why her lady had the visage of a drunken lunatic. Maybe if she'd known what Arthur was usually like in the morning, she would've been glad that she'd found her in this – let's just say – _more peaceful _state.

„Hi." Arthur sleepily greeted the bewildered maid, totally unaware of the girl's bemusement.

„My lady" she gave a nervous smile and went on „I've prepared a bath for you since you were too exhausted last night. I-I hope you don't mind." she said with the slightest hint of fear in her voice. It was a presumptuous action on her part, considering that Arthur had never mentioned she would require a bath this morning.

But Arthur saw no reason to shout at the girl. Even though it was common that other nobles got angry whenever their servants gave signs that their brains functioned perfectly well on their own, thank you, without constantly being given orders; Arthur had never been so touchy about the issue. Especially if it was beneficial to him.

Besides, nothing could be better than starting the day with a relaxing hot bath. She had discovered on her very first night in the castle as _Lora _that the ladies of the court were provided with some special kind of soap which could create an awful amount of bubbles in the water. Arthur would've never admitted it, but she really enjoyed these foamy baths.

„Fantastic!" said Arthur with excitement, and this time a genuine grin appeared on Mary's face as her demeanour relaxed.

Arthur swung her legs out of bed and followed her maid to the dressing screen (where the tub was already set up), quickly slipped out of her sleeping gown and cast it aside – a combination of the regular _massage-sessions _with Mary coupled with Arthur's general narcissism meant she wasn't self-conscious to hang around the girl naked – then slowly lowered herself into the bath. When her skin made contact with the warm water, Arthur let out a soft, low sound, which closely resembled the purring of a cat. Knowing very well that this would shame her under normal circumstances, Arthur simply pretended that someone or something else was the source of the sound… (Suffice to say Mary was not fooled, but rather rolled her eyes at her mistress' antics)

Unfortunately, but not wholly unexpectedly, her rosy bubble of morning bliss was poured out the window along with the bath water.

Because now, standing face-to-face with Merlin, Arthur had never felt more embarrassed. True, she'd declared this several times before (especially these last few days), but she was absolutely sure that this time she really had reached the highest level of embarrassment humanly possible – it was a wonder Arthur didn't explode while talking to Merlin, aka the -uh- _hero _of last night's dream.

Well, 'talking' was an overstatement, it was only Merlin who did the _talking _part.

When Arthur had caught up with Merlin some time after noon, they'd gone for a walk around the castle. Actually, it'd been the boy's suggestion. He'd said that roaming around Camelot's fields aimlessly like the ladies usually did at this time of the day (Merlin hadn't put it _this way_, of course, but that was what he'd meant) wouldn't cause suspicion and they could talk freely. Of course Merlin hadn't factored in that said ladies weren't usually walking unchaperoned with young male servants, but Arthur hadn't objected. She'd only nodded, too busy focusing on her breathing and trying to maintain composure without flushing scarlet everytime Merlin looked her in the eye – Arthur really didn't know what she would do if Merlin had happened to notice the state she was in.

Because if Merlin sensed something was off, he was never afraid to ask what. And if the buffoon asked, Arthur's mask of indifference crumbled away almost instantly. And if Arthur cracked, Merlin only pushed the matter further. And eventually, Arthur had no choice but to pour his heart out to the sentimental sod whether he wanted to or not. This time she most decidedly did _not_.

It was just one of the (countless) annoying features of the wonder that was Merlin. Arthur had long since learnt to put up with that – it's not like the prince had ever really had a choice – but this was an exceptional case! Fortunately, Merlin didn't comment on her rather edgy state…_yet_.  
As the pair stood in the courtyard, at a considerable distance from the other courtiers and servants running errands for their superiors, Merlin chattered about ways to remember things that you thought you would never be able to recall – a desperate attempt to help Arthur summon the words (which played a crucial role in breaking the curse) of the sorceress from somewhere in the back of her mind.

Arthur, however, wasn't paying much attention. None, to be exact.

She had her reasons, mind you.

Firstly, she doubted that any of them even worked. These were themethods of the most forgetful, light-headed servant in the five known kingdoms after all! So no one could blame Arthur when she spaced out during Merlin's story about how he'd almost short-circuited his brain at the age of fourteen just because he hadn't been able to remember what kind of herb he'd been supposed to bring home to her mother. While this _adventure _was amusing – the image of a younger, skinnier Merlin in total despair in the middle of the woods was quite entertaining in Arthur's opinion – she really couldn't care less if he'd succeeded or not (although Arthur would've bet her life that the boy had had to go home and ask Hunith about the herb again – the boy's poor mother must have been quite glad to see the back of him).

Secondly, and this was the main reason, she could see his lips moving but could not for the life of her concentrate on what he was saying; Arthur's mind involuntarily wandered back to the memories of her imaginary fling with Merlin, despite the fact that Arthur had promised herself she would forget it ever happened, let it sink to oblivion and never think of it – let alone speak of it – again.

But how could anyone expect her to stay aloof when Merlin was rubbing his stupid boyish charm in her face like this? He was being sweet…kind…compassionate and looking incredibly handsome as he was trying to help Arthur sort out her miserable fate. In fact, Arthur couldn't recall Merlin ever being as dashing and attractive as he was right now.  
The thought that he was doing it on purpose crossed Arthur's mind; maybe – just a slight chance – Merlin was trying to impress her. Could it be that he'd had _that_ sort of dream, too?

About Arthur?

_Wishful thinking…_

But it was better to disregard this chain of thought, mutual physical attraction would just complicate things. If it turned out that Merlin was as interested in Arthur's female anatomy as she was in his masculine form, she feared she wouldn't be able to restrain herself from acting on certain _primal_ _instincts_. And the repercussions of that would be terrible…

So Arthur tilted her head a bit and went back to feasting her eyes on all those small but unique features that made Merlin…well, so incredibly _irresistible_. Nothing bad could come of simply admiring the sight, right?

By now they were slowly strolling along, and Arthur noted with joy (only inwardly, of course) that she was a lot better at walking on high heels than before. Well, after long days of unavoidable practice it was only reasonable, she figured. She was practically gliding in her long poison green gown, which – the dress, not her angelic slide – was a letdown, to be honest. Although she hadn't complained to Mary, she wasn't very happy with her maid's choice this time. Arthur felt that the different shades of blue simply suited her better, and Merlin's silence on her looks seemed to confirm her theory. Opposed to his compliment the day before, Merlin hadn't said anything about Arthur's appearance when they'd met. Merlin might have thought she didn't, but Arthur noticed that. Even if she was an emotional mess thanks to the fight of embarrassment and lust inside her for his dominance, she _did_ notice. She rolled her eyes at her own thoughts; when had she started becoming so _concerned _with such things?

While Arthur was graceful in her movements, Merlin's steps were ragged and quicker, in other words: as gangly as ever. He was so absorbed in explaining…something (god, Arthur was seriously starting to feel guilty about letting his words in one ear and out the other) that he gestured with his hands endlessly, wiggling his long, lithe fingers around, and from time to time, he snapped up his head to seek out Arthur's eyes with his own pair of stormy blue.

Arthur was ready to get completely lost in them when she was stopped in her way by non-other than Merlin himself, who unexpectedly turned and stepped in front of her, continuing his speech about whatever exactly it was that he was talking about. Facing his chest (almost coming in contact with him!) certainly ended Arthur's reverie, but only momentarily.

This turn of events was in favour of her actually, because this new angle allowed Arthur to stare at Merlin's physique shamelessly, without the risk of getting caught. And what a pleasant sight Merlin was! He wasn't wearing that worn-out jacket this time, just a loose red tunic that made his broad shoulders a lot more pronounced. He still had the gawkiness of a boy at the brink of adulthood but his body definitely had the traits of a full-grown man, and they appeared more prominent to Arthur now that she was a woman – come to think of it, they might have been this evident only to someone with a mind as oversexed as Arthur's currently was .

The only thing ruining the picture was that stupid blue dishrag which Merlin dared to call a 'neckerchief'. It covered up Arthur's only chance of peeking into his shirt; the V-neck that went down below his collarbone. Arthur did have vague memories of Merlin _not _wearing a neckerchief, she only wished she'd taken a closer look – then again, why would the prince of Camelot have done such a thing?

But why the hell was Merlin even wearing that thing? Was he cold? Arthur seriously considered just ripping the bloody thing off of him but decided that would just be ridiculous... right?

Anyway, Arthur couldn't let her eyes linger on his chest any longer. As oblivious as Merlin was – seriously, he'd been talking for ages and still didn't realize Arthur wasn't listening to a word – he would notice it eventually, or at least when she started drooling.

She lifted her gaze higher and the thick raven locks caught her attention immediately. Following the _You can look but you can't touch _rule was proving harder by the second; all Arthur could think of was how it would feel to run her hand through Merlin's ruffled hair and toy with the silk threads between her fingers. At that thought, a rather pleasant image quickly unfolded before her mental eyes; Merlin resting his head on Arthur's bare stomach, blinking at her sleepily as she lovingly tangles her fingers in the floppy locks...

That was when a dark corner of her mind – which remained unaffected by the spell, she assumed and was the source of that irritating small voice that always tried to knock sense into Arthur's hormone-soaked brain – was about to speak out against such outrageous thoughts, but Arthur shushed it quickly. Probably too quickly for her own good – just proving how much control these damn hormones had over her.

True, Merlin _might_ have swept Arthur off her feet entirely and it _might _have been pointless to deny it. But even if it was true, Arthur couldn't bring herself to fight against the only thing that brought a light into her now pathetic life. Surely, something that evoked these sweet and pleasing feelings couldn't be labelled repulsive, could it?

The next thing Arthur set her eyes upon was undeniably her favourite part of Merlin: his lips.  
Those plump and rosy lips were always spouting the most insolent and inexplicable things but every now and then, they stopped to flash the most brilliant smile to Arthur. Not the one Merlin put on whenever he met a familiar face in the market, or just a _mere stranger_ (he was constantly beaming like a lunatic and made friends with astonishing rapidity) but the kind of grin which spread across his face when he was truly happy; his eyes lit up and his lips curved into a beautiful triangular smile, prompting two adorable dimples and showing off gleaming white teeth – for a peasant, Merlin sure had a healthy set of teeth…Arthur had not _once_ met a commoner in the lower town who had all of their teeth…was that a perk for castle servants – free dentistry?!  
The sight always filled Arthur with a sort of warmth and cosiness inside (though he'd always tried not to show it) but now, even the mental image of it made Arthur's heart beat faster in her chest.

However, the next moment, Merlin's full lips were pressed into a firm line.

Unfazed by this, Arthur patiently waited for them to start their dancing again so that she could continue admiring them. And soon they did!

But then they shut down again, then repeated the movement, then shut down again. And this kept going on like this. Arthur was just about to ask Merlin if he was impersonating a cow on the cud when he realized Merlin was repeating something. Something which was oddly familiar.

And soon enough, she managed to match Merlin's voice to the motion of his lips in her head.

_Arthur…Arthur…Arthur…_

„Arthur!" repeated Merlin probably for the hundredth time. The sudden sound breaking into her consciousness (and the fright that she was caught) made Arthur literally jump, but she composed herself as fast as possible and for the first time in minutes, she took in _all_of Merlin's face.

And he was not happy. He narrowed his eyes, popped his jaws to the side and was piercing Arthur with a severe stare. Arthur knew that look well, it usually appeared when the prince loaded Merlin with a bunch of petty chores; Merlin was annoyed and a tiny bit angry.  
He stood up taller and folded his arms in front of him. The posture was supposed to be intimidating, but to Arthur, it was arousing and exciting in some stupid way. Merlin somehow seemed ten times more manly and confident. Arthur dropped her gaze to the ground and couldn't help but squirm under Merlin's fixed stare. But when she lifted her head again, a flirtatious smile played in the corner of her mouth – hundreds of images flooded Arthur's mind about how Merlin could _punish _her for her naughtiness and she found that she would've taken all of them willingly and more than gladly.

_Something is very wrong with me_, she observed a little horrified. And Merlin's next comment didn't do anything to ease that feeling, quite the opposite...

„You're not even listening, sire." he said with a trace of disappointment in his tone, his demeanour had already lost its stiffness. But with that last word, he shattered all of Arthur's previous thoughts – _fantasies_ – like a mirror and reality hit her hard in the face. It reminded her just how wrong all of this was; Arthur was the prince of Camelot, only temporarily (please god, temporarily) in a woman's body, Merlin was her friend (even if Arthur had never said it out loud) and he would be thoroughly disgusted if Arthur proposed the idea of being together like _that_. He would never talk or even come near Arthur ever again.

„Don't call me that…" was all she could say. It was barely more than a whisper and her voice was trembling with emotion. If only Merlin had left off that 'sire', but she could fast feel herself become a quivering wreck.

Merlin, however, failed to realize the true meaning of her words and quickly scanned the area with his eyes to check if there was anyone in earshot.

„No one heard me." he reassured but his eyes were focusing on something else in the distance behind Arthur. She turned to see what he was looking at and her eyes widened when she spotted the knights coming in their direction. As it was, her head had been so high in the clouds that she hadn't realized that they'd been loitering next to the training field for the last five minutes, where the knights had just finished their daily training.

Arthur turned high on her heel and started towards the castle, shoving Merlin in the chest as she did so to urge him onwards. The last thing she wanted to do right now was to have a mincing chit-chat with the knights.

But it was too late – and Merlin probably knew that, for he stayed as steady as a rock on his feet – because one of the knights had already called her name. Walking away as if she hadn't heard anything was very, _very _tempting, but it would also have been cowardly, and, male or female, Arthur desperately wanted to keep what little pride she had left.

So she turned reluctantly to face the group. She refused to put a sweet smile on, though. Arthur was eyeing the five approaching knights with a blank expression, not looking forward to the encounter but thinking of it as a task she had to face. Merlin, on the other hand, was tense and anxious; she could see it from the corner of her eye.

„Lady Lora" one of her knights said as he stepped forward and then took a deep bow „we haven't officially met."

„No, we have not." replied Arthur with disinterest. Unfortunately though, her coldness didn't scare him off - he'd been discouraged far more brutally before and bounced back - and he continued. He took her hand – it took a great deal of willpower not to tear if from him – and kissed it softly. She wrinkled her nose slightly in disgust and exchanged a horrified glance with Merlin (she had no idea why, it was just an instinct) who was staring at this absurd scene in front of him with bemusement.

„My name is Sir Gareth." he said with a charming smile and forced Arthur to tear her gaze from her manservant.

_Yes, I know. I was the one who knighted you less than a year ago, remember? _was what she wanted to say, but she remained silent and listened patiently as he introduced the other four knights. Arthur was listing the names in unison with Gareth, but only in her head.

„This is Sir Devin. Sir Tristen. Sir Alden." and then he pointed to the one standing on the left, closer to Merlin „And Sir Wallis."

Okay, Arthur had to admit that she wouldn't have been able to name the fourth knight right on the spot, he was the one who'd been sparring with Gareth two days before and whom Arthur had lazily labelled _Sir What's-his-name_.

The situation was uncomfortable, to say the least, the four (five if she counted Merlin) men surrounded her in a semi-circle and the knights had the nerve to leer at her!

„Tell me, my lady, do you enjoy being so cruel?" inquired Gareth, as if asking about the weather. Arthur had to gape at him, even Merlin's eyes widened.

„Wha-?" was her unintelligible answer, the question baffled her completely.

„Why else would you torment us with the breathtaking sight?" he explained as he raked his gaze over her with a suggestive smirk, the other knights' sly smiles followed suit.

Arthur was lost for words. Merlin had no such problem, though, and gave an obnoxious chuckle, which he tried to cover up as coughing. Either it worked and the knights believed him, or they simply ignored the servant (the latter was more likely- Merlin was a _terrible _actor). Arthur, however, was furious with him. Did he find this amusing? She wanted nothing more than to bash in the lips she'd praised only minutes before, leaving Merlin without a few of his pearly-white teeth.

_Later_, she reminded herself, now she had to put these horny gits in their places, she was not some kind of silly clot who would fall so easily (she ignored her previous thoughts regarding Merlin that begged to differ).

„Well, it wasn't intentional." she said and quickly changed the topic „I see you've been practising mace-work."

It was easy to see that her comment surprised Gareth, but at least made him sober up for a while. He whirled the mace around in his hand – what a show-off! – and this time, his tone was a lot more business-alike.

„Yes. Prince Arthur believes it's vital that we know the more barbaric ways of fighting as well, not just the noble art of sword wielding."

That was true. After all what danger did the kind of enemies who fought 'nobly' pose? It was the others you had to worry about!

„Hmm, I agree. It can be dangerous in the midst of battle. Awful things can happen if one is not trained…Gaping wounds, bashed skulls, ripped limbs dripping in blood and God knows what else" she was staring icily at Gareth as she described the graphic image" It would be tragic to lose such fine knights just because they were not trained. So I'll just leave you to your practice then."

And with that she turned and gracefully walked away, ordering Merlin with a flick of her hand to follow her. Fortunately the group didn't do anything to stop her. But she could still hear them murmuring – „_such a tease"_ and _„fierce beauty" _was what they said_ –_ and that was enough to drive her up the wall. No matter how she'd felt in her dream at night, Arthur reached the conclusion that she did _not _desire Gareth's touch, or any of the knights' for that matter. She would remind her subconscious of that before daring to drift into dreams that night.

She was still fuming when Merlin closed the door to her chamber behind them. She rushed to her four-poster bed and sent her tiny fist against one of the bedposts in rage. She had so many questions in her head, some that she couldn't answer and even more that she didn't _dare_ to answer. Did she truly find the knights' courting that repelling? Would she react the same way if it was Merlin who showed interest in her? And why the hell was she dwelling upon such girly matters? Shouldn't she be working on finding the cure? Did she even _want _to find the cure?...

This was too much, Arthur could feel her head spinning and she slumped down on the edge of her bed in defeat. She came to realize only now that there was so much more to this curse than had been initially apparent. Oh, growing female body parts was just the tip of the iceberg, the emotional turmoil; the feeling of insecurity, self-doubt and shame, now _that_was almost unbearable. It was enough to send someone into madness. And the witch must have known that. No doubt, the bitch was cruel to no end…

In an attempt to calm herself, Arthur ran her hands through her long hair, combing her locks smoothly. When her exasperation somewhat ceased, she searched for Merlin with her eyes – she found the quiet room eerily strange. _Merlin's _silence was strange! She would've expected him to start babbling the moment they stepped into the room.

She found her servant still leaning with his back against the closed door, and judging by the way he was eyeing her, Merlin was probably preparing himself for Arthur's mental breakdown. She rolled her eyes in _Arthur-fashion _and huffed loudly to give the impression that she was fine.

_Big, fat lie but never mind._

It worked, though. Merlin released the door knob and slowly approached the small table in the middle of the room. Arthur watched as he started meddling with the fresh flowers aimlessly and a peaceful silence seemed to fall upon them. However, it was broken by Merlin's overly cheery voice.

„Look on the bright side" he said as he was toying with the petals, avoiding to look at Arthur „If you're stuck like this, at least you'll have suitors."

When no reply came, he carefully peeked at her with a mischievous grin on his face.  
Blood rushed to her cheeks, Arthur was ready to shout into Merlin's face that _„The idea is ludicrous! I don't want men to court me. That's just stupid! You're stupid! You'll spend the next month in the stocks, Merlin!" (And then come and court me yourself!) _Because that would've been the reasonable thing to do, right (minus the latter addition of course)?

But the words didn't come out and Arthur was left gaping like a fish. Since she couldn't say that the prospect of having male suitors wasn't appealing (it was more about _who_ that male suitor was) and she didn't have the strength in her to feed Merlin (or herself) blatant lies, Arthur decided that the best course of action was to remain silent. She shut her mouth and cast her gaze to the floor, the topic of suitors had made thoughts – highly inappropriate thoughts – of Merlin surface. She shouldn't want Merlin that way, she just _shouldn't_…

„Come on, Arthur" said Merlin with mirth in his voice „they were just trying to impress you as they would any other pretty face in court. That's what they do. That's what they _always _do. You've done it too, on occasion"

Arthur snapped her head up to look at Merlin who was standing in front of her by now, waiting for his words to take effect. They did, just not the way he probably expected they would.

„You think I'm pretty?" asked Arthur in amusement.

„No" he replied far too quickly, but when he saw Arthur's hurt expression, he added „I mean yes…you're very pretty…_What?!_"

He scratched the back of his head as his face was reddening, then he threw himself on the bed next to Arthur, probably to escape Arthur's piercing gaze.

„That's not important! What I'm trying to say is" he pressed „just don't anger yourself over it."

Well, that was an advice! The thing was that she wasn't angry at the knights, but more at herself. And at Merlin! He still had an effect on Arthur's body, especially now that he was this close and could practically smell that green, woody smell that seemed to emanate from his every pore. With Merlin's occasional shifting, their knees were touching slightly and Arthur immediately broke out in goosebumps.

„It's not the knights that upset me…" she said with a sigh „not only them, anyway."

The conversation was going into a dangerous direction, but Arthur thought she would explode if she didn't let it off her chest. Plus the question how Merlin would react to Arthur's _problem _was still hanging in the air. Did he find Arthur's new body attractive? What would he do if he'd found out about Arthur's attraction to his body?

„Then what is it?" came Merlin's soft voice from her left. And, well, curiosity got the better of her.

„I've changed." she started in a melancholic tone as she stared pointedly at the ground. „With this new body, a lot of new sensations, _feelings _appeared. Some feelings I've lost, some feelings intensified and a bunch of new feelings I gained…Feelings, thoughts I would've never thought I'd have, _ever_."

As she finished, Arthur turned her head to look at Merlin. Suddenly, he seemed to be a lot closer than he'd been before. He might have edged closer during her heartfelt monologue. But it might well have been her imagination – their thighs had already been brushing when he'd sat down and if he'd moved closer, he would've been technically _on _her right now. And he was most certainly not on Arthur.

One thing was sure, though; sympathy and, if Arthur guessed right, a twinge of pity were reflected in his big eyes. While it felt good, that was not what Arthur was aiming for. Just like on so many occasions before, Merlin didn't get the point. Not for the first time, Arthur wished the boy wasn't quite so _dim._So Arthur gathered her courage to make another attempt at getting through to her thick servant.

„I have this desire that women have for…when…you know…" she stammered and watched Merlin carefully „and I-I tried to fight it – God knows I tried! – but I can't and…and…" _And I don't think I want to._

The words got stuck, Arthur honestly had hoped Merlin would've said something by now but he was just staring (with slightly bigger eyes than before) like a statue – was he even breathing?  
She was relieved now that it was off her chest, but the longer silence was stretching, the more anxious she was getting. Still, Arthur didn't regret revealing her true feelings, even if Merlin rejected her, at least she wouldn't keep mulling over the what-ifs…

Then finally, after what felt like ages, Merlin seemed to react; he blinked a couple of times, his lips parted slightly (most likely to form words) and something flickered across his face faster than lightning. Hope awakened in Arthur, she was holding her breath as she waited for the boy to speak - maybe even return her feelings.

Merlin hesitated for a moment, then, to Arthur's greatest disappointment, he leapt to his feet and was on the other side of the room, next to the dressing screen in a flash. Arthur could only blink in surprise.

„Erm, I see." was all he could rasp out. Once again he was avoiding Arthur's gaze, fiddling with the hem of his shirt instead. A sort of apologetic expression settled on his face. He, too, must have been shocked by his own harsh reaction which could have been easily interpreted as sheer disgust…with Arthur.

Indeed, Arthur felt her insides clench together. The fact that Merlin wanted to be as far away from her as possible hurt – why else would he jump _literally _across the room? She hadn't expected him to throw himself at her right on the spot, but still.

Her sadness didn't last long, though. It was easy to tell that Merlin regretted his previous action and was struggling to explain it, so Arthur was sure it was just a matter of time and he would give some kind of explanation (hopefully positive). Besides, Arthur could swear she'd seen something lurking in his eyes before, she couldn't say what it was exactly, but it sure as hell wasn't rejection.

But minutes passed by and nothing was happening…except for the occasional – and very fake – throat-clearings from both of them. Merlin had finally stopped tugging at his tunic like a five-year-old and was now more interested in the contents of her small dressing drawer. Arthur could feel annoyance building up inside. Clearly, Merlin had no intention of discussing the enormous elephant in the room.

Wasn't that ironic? When Arthur had been prince, there had been no shutting up Merlin, he'd always fussed over everything. And now, when Arthur wanted to talk – about something which was relatively important unlike Merlin's constant gibbering – it was the exact opposite.

_Men_…

All hope of finding out about Merlin's thoughts regarding this strange and admittedly awkward (but Arthur was immune to the latter by now, really) situation was lost when Merlin changed the topic.

„What's this?" he pointed to the ornamented pot on the drawer, he seemed genuinely curious.

„That, _Mer_lin, is lotion." explained Arthur as if she was talking to a child. Was that really what he was worried about after what she had just confessed to him? She still couldn't get over the fact that pouring her heart out had been completely pointless.

Her explanation seemed to have left more questions than answers in Merlin, for he quirked his eyebrows in a comical way. He didn't dare to ask anything else, though, he just lifted the lid and eyed the substance suspiciously.

Right on the spot, a wonderful idea struck Arthur and she had to do her best to stifle the smirk that threatened to spread across her face. Mocking, embarrassing and making Merlin blush like a maiden had always been one of Arthur's favourite activities, in fact it came second only to hunting. Others might have found it cruel – Morgana, for example – but Arthur firmly believed it was just friendly banter. Sometimes, however, it also served as punishment (usually when Merlin was insolent in public) and Arthur decided it was the perfect opportunity to punish Merlin for his wilful ignorance.

The main reason for this trick, however, was that Arthur badly wanted to regain the upper hand. She felt extremely vulnerable now that she'd spilled her secret to Merlin and received nothing in return. And maybe, with this trick, she could squeeze something, _anything_ out of him. There was still a tiny flicker of hope in her heart, and maybe Merlin just needed a little nudging…well it _was _Merlin so make that an enormous shove, but...

She slowly rose to her feet and leaned casually against the bedpost she'd punched earlier.

„Yeah. Each evening, after I get out of the bath, Mary gently wipes me dry with a towel. And before she dresses me, she massages that stuff into my skin." she remained nonchalant but was also trying to keep a seductive husk in her tone.

„It's similar to the balm you use when my shoulder is sore after training." she continued „Except that she uses this _all over my body_." The last part was said in a whisper. And boy did it have an effect! Merlin froze and was unable to tear his gaze from Arthur.

„Mary massages this…all over you…while you're naked?" he asked in a low voice. And it didn't escape Arthur's attention that he stole a quick glance at her body.

„Yes" she continued, looking smug at her new advantage – gosh she never realized how easy men were to manipulate – "but sometimes I use my own hands, too." Arthur ran a few slim fingers over her collarbone to imitate the motion.

„So-so you massage Mary, too, while she's naked." exclaimed Merlin wide eyed, in a hoarse voice.

„What? NO!" she shrieked „I meant _my own_ body." _Geez_, Merlin had a lot filthier fantasy than one would imagine about the bumbling country boy. Even Arthur got flushed at _that _mental picture.

„Oh, right." nodded Merlin with his head held determinedly down, he didn't dare to look up after that. But Arthur was determined to continue the conversation, she'd be lying if she said she didn't like where this was going.

„It makes my skin soft and silky, you know." she said to keep up the conversation.

„I wouldn't know!" said Merlin with a shaky laugh, he kept staring at the wall on the other side of the room.

Arthur didn't think about her next move, her reaction was automatic; she stretched her arm out with her palm upwards as an invitation to Merlin, to feel it for himself.

„Here." she said readily.

Merlin turned his head so fast that it was a wonder he didn't break his neck. He was looking at her arm and then met Arthur's gaze, asking with a raised eyebrow if she was joking. When he saw Arthur's expectant expression, he slowly started toward her. He was edging around the mahogany table with slow steps, as if Arthur was a perturbed deer that would run off any minute if he wasn't careful.

To Arthur, it seemed as if he was moving in slow motion; his legs bringing him closer and closer, his chest falling and rising heavily with each breath, his long fingers lightly brushing the wooden surface as he got around the table. Arthur's heart was hammering in her chest like crazy, those fingers would soon encircle her wrist and would caress her skin softly – she could already feel her skin tingling, yearning for the touch.

They were only two feet away from each other, but then there was a knock on the door. Needless to say, that was enough for the sensual atmosphere to disappear in an instant and the pair sprang apart.

„Enter!" called Arthur to whoever decided to disturbed them, she couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice as she started rubbing her forearm forcefully to lessen the aching that the lack of touch caused. She subtly stole a glance at Merlin to see how he was coping. She was surprised to see that he was on the other side of the room again! How he managed jumping around like a grasshopper was a mystery. _Must be his long legs_, she mused.

Arthur could see that Merlin, too, was clueless as to what to do with the _tension _that'd been building up in him since Arthur had mentioned „balm", „massage" and „naked". He was panting slightly and clenching his fingers repeatedly at his sides. She wondered briefly if Merlin had ever _relieved _himself as she had had to after her dream, but quickly shook the thought off.

Their eyes met for only a brief moment before Mary scampered through the door with a pile of neatly folded clothing in her hands. She saw Arthur first and did a small courtesy.

„My lady." she said sweetly. Arthur greeted her with a smile, it was impossible to be angry at the girl. Besides, it was absolutely not her fault, she didn't know what she'd disturbed. And thank the gods that she'd knocked! Otherwise it would've been extremely difficult to explain away the scene that would've greeted her.

It was only after that she'd got further into the room that Mary spotted Merlin.

„Oh! Hi Merlin! I didn't see you there." her eyes lit up and took a few steps towards the boy.

„Hello Mary." replied Merlin with a lopsided smile. At any other time, he might have started a conversation with the girl but he was still too flustered, as was Arthur. When it became obvious to Mary that Merlin wouldn't say anything else, she walked up to Arthur.

„I came to tell you, my lady that the Lady Morgana asked for you." she said as she put the pile onto the bed „To prepare for the feast." It didn't seem to occur to Mary that Merlin shouldn't really have been alone in a room with a female guest – her own infatuation with him blinding her.

„Oh, right!" exclaimed Arthur, she completely forgot. Mary had mentioned during breakfast that Morgana wished to prepare with Lady Lora for the feast – to talk and gossip like they've done two days before, Arthur figured. But more importantly, to find her some dress because Arthur was hopeless at that front; as a refugee, she wore what they gave her. She was actually thankful that Morgana offered her help, for Arthur's vanity wouldn't have allowed her to turn up at a fancy feast in an anything-less-than-perfect dress.

„Then I'll be there right away. Merlin, you can go now, I won't need your services till the feast." she said as formally as she could.

Merlin pressed his lips together and acknowledged the order with a small nod. He was just about to leave when he remembered that he was supposed to act like a proper servant (as if that was possible!) in Mary's company. He whipped around in the door and bowed deeply, but as he rose, his gaze lingered on the two girls standing at the foot of the bed. Arthur didn't know what to make of it at first, but when Merlin settled his eyes on the pot on the drawers (as surreptitiously as he could, of course), swallowed hard and become positively red, realization dawned on Arthur. While Mary continued to look on with her big, innocent eyes, Arthur had to bite her cheeks, so that she wouldn't break out into giggles. But she could do nothing against the jolt that shot through her when she realized where the boy's mind was wandering.

_Merlin, you're unbelievable…_

Nevertheless, Merlin sensed something because he became even more flushed. He backed away quickly and disappeared on the corridor. Arthur bit her lip thoughtfully, and then gave an amused chuckle. Mary looked at her quizzically, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that her body did have an effect on Merlin after all…

**Thanks for reading! **


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